Plans · Business

Raise a seed round

12 weeks · 4 phases · 25 tasks · 4 milestones · 5 risks

For founders raising a first institutional round who still need to run the company while they do it. The weeks run from getting the story, numbers and documents ready through a tight burst of investor meetings to negotiating terms and closing. Adapt the investor list to your sector and stage, and expect the timing to move: closing often takes longer than the meetings do.

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Makes it a program in your harbor, dated from today.

Milestones

Week 3Deck and data room ready
Week 6First meetings done
Week 9Term sheet signed
Week 12Round closed

The plan, phase by phase

1. Prepare

Weeks 1 to 3. Decide what you're raising and get the materials ready.

Week 1Decide how much to raise and what it pays forTie the amount to the milestones it gets you to and how many months of runway that buys.
Week 1Build an operating plan and financial modelKeep it simple: hiring plan, burn and runway by month, with the assumptions written down.
Week 1Write the one-paragraph story of the company
Week 2Draft the pitch deckProblem, product, traction, market, team, the ask. Get feedback from founders who raised recently.
Week 2Engage a startup lawyer
Week 2Clean up the cap table and company recordsIncorporation documents, founder agreements, IP assignments and any prior notes or SAFEs.
Week 3Set up the data roomDeck, model, cap table, incorporation documents, key contracts and metrics, in a folder you can share with access controls.

2. Build the pipeline

Weeks 3 to 4. Find the investors who back companies like yours and get warm intros.

Week 3Build a list of target investorsCheck each one invests at your stage and in your sector, and note who in your network knows them.
Week 3Rank the list into tiersStart meetings with the second tier to practice, but not so early that the first tier hears about it late.
Week 4Ask for warm introductions
Week 4Practice the pitch with friendly investors

3. Meetings

Weeks 5 to 8. Run first meetings close together so interest builds at the same time.

Week 5Run first meetings in a two to three week windowBunching meetings keeps investors on a similar clock and gives you a clearer read.
Week 5Send follow-ups within a day of each meeting
Week 5Track every investor's stage in one listLast contact, next step and date for each one, reviewed every few days.
Week 6Refine the deck from questions that keep coming up
Week 7Run partner meetings and deep dives
Week 8Answer due diligence requests

4. Terms and close

Weeks 9 to 12. Choose a lead, agree terms and get the money in the bank.

Week 9Compare term sheets with your lawyerLook past valuation: board seats, pro rata rights, liquidation preference and option pool size.
Week 9Sign the term sheet with the lead investorMost term sheets include a no-shop period, so pick the lead you want before signing.
Week 10Fill the rest of the round
Week 10Complete confirmatory diligence
Week 11Review and sign closing documents
Week 12Collect wires and confirm receipt
Week 12Update the cap table and tell the team
Week 12Send the first investor updateA short monthly note on progress, numbers and asks sets the habit early.

What usually goes wrong

The business stalls while founders fundraise
Investors watch the numbers during the raise, and a flat month weakens every conversation.
What helps: Have one founder run the raise and the other run the company, and agree which metrics must keep moving.
Likelihood 4 of 5 · impact 4 of 5
Meetings spread out and momentum fades
When first meetings trickle over months, no investor feels pressure to decide.
What helps: Book first meetings into a short window and only start once the deck and data room are ready.
Likelihood 3 of 5 · impact 4 of 5
Diligence turns up messy paperwork
Missing IP assignments or an unclear cap table can delay or derail closing.
What helps: Have your lawyer review company records in the prepare phase and fix gaps before the first meeting.
Likelihood 3 of 5 · impact 4 of 5
Wrong investors on the list
Pitching funds that don't invest at your stage or sector burns weeks for nothing.
What helps: Check each investor's recent seed deals before adding them, and drop anyone who hasn't done one in your space.
Likelihood 3 of 5 · impact 3 of 5
Running out of runway mid-raise
Raising with only weeks of cash left weakens your position on terms.
What helps: Start with at least six months of runway and plan a fallback, such as a smaller round from existing backers.
Likelihood 2 of 5 · impact 5 of 5

Using it

Copy what fits and cut what doesn’t: no real project matches a template. In Harbor the plan becomes a program with these milestones, one project holding every task with its due date, and these risks in the register, all yours until you hand them out. The first phase starts in To do and the rest wait in the backlog.

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