How to Raise Money
Key ideas
Graham gives rules for seed-stage fundraising: decide deliberately, talk to investors in parallel by expected value, accept offers greedily, and get back to building.
- 1
Be in fundraising mode or not
Graham argues fundraising is so distracting that a startup should either commit fully to it and finish quickly, or not engage at all, declining investor meetings meanwhile.
- 2
Treat everything short of yes as no
He warns that investors often lead founders on to keep a free option. Until there is a definite offer with no contingencies, assume the answer is no, and judge interest by actions rather than words.
- 3
Search in parallel, weighted by expected value
Graham suggests talking to all plausible investors at once, prioritizing by likelihood of yes times its value, and favoring those who decide fast since the first commitment is the hardest.
- 4
Accept offers greedily; valuation matters little
He says to take any acceptable offer rather than holding out, start with a modest target and multiple plans, and not optimize for valuation, which ranks behind getting the money and good investors.
- 5
Don't let fundraising replace the work
Graham cautions against getting addicted to fundraising, raising too much, or behaving arrogantly. He advises assuming this round may be the last and aiming for profitability on it.
In Paul’s words
“Treat investors as saying no till they unequivocally say yes, in the form of a definite offer with no contingencies.”
Paul Graham·How to Raise Money·Read in context(opens the original in a new tab)“Though it sounds slightly paradoxical, if you want to raise money, the best thing you can do is get yourself to the point where you don't need to.”
Paul Graham·How to Raise Money·Read in context(opens the original in a new tab)“Fundraising is not what will make your company successful. Listening to users complain about bugs in your software is what will make you successful.”
Paul Graham·How to Raise Money·Read in context(opens the original in a new tab)Connected in lessons
About this entry
- Published
- Sep 2013 (month only)
- Publisher
- paulgraham.com
- Type
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Added
- Nov 1, 2026
- Source last checked
- Nov 1, 2026
Cover photo of Paul Graham, not from this work: Gabor Cselle, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What’s available here
Original source
Linked. Opens on the publisher’s site.
Player on this page
Not applicable. Written piece; nothing to play.
Full text or transcript
Not reviewed. No license to show a text version here.
Our summary
Draft. Written by us with AI from the full public text and checked against it; quotes are word for word. Not yet rights-reviewed.
Ask questions with AI
Not reviewed. Off until there is licensed text to work from.