How to Raise Venture Capital in 2025 from tier 1 VCs (Even If You’ve Never Done It Before)

Used by founders who raised from Sequoia, a16z, YC and many other VCs

Hey everybody, welcome back to Product Market Fit.

In this article I’m going to share everything I’ve learned about raising capital during the last 6 years that I’ve been involved in startups, first as a founder and then as a venture capital investor.

I recently gave a class about this at IE University, so I thought I might as well share it with you!

Let’s get to it.

Hey there, thanks for tuning in to Product Market Fit. If you’d like to sponsor the newsletter, email me at g@guillermoflor.com

Don’t forget to subscribe!

Brought to you by Chronicle. Storytelling for founders.

Chronicle raised $7.5M seed from tier 1 VCs like Accel thanks to their exceptional storytelling.

Now, they are blending AI with taste to help founders 100x their presentations - with compelling narratives and stunning design.

Try it out and get 1 month of Free Pro

---

Raising capital is the second most critical thing a founder needs to master—right after building something people want.

And yet, for most founders, fundraising feels like trying to unlock a secret code. It’s confusing, opaque, and full of silent rules that no one explains. In fact, it’s reported that only 0.05% to 10% of startups manage to raise capital at all.

Why is it so hard?

Because nobody teaches you how this works. You either figure it out the hard way—through rejections, dead ends, and bad advice—or you get lucky. This guide exists so you don’t have to rely on either.

We're going to walk through every single thing a founder needs to understand to successfully raise venture capital in 2025—from the very basics to the most effective strategies to close your round.

What this guide covers

1. The Basics of Venture Capital

• What Is Venture Capital and How Does It Work?

• The History of Modern Venture Capital

• The Venture Partnership Structure

• Types of Startup Investors

• Investment Stages and What Each Investor Looks For

2. How to Run a Successful Fundraising Process

• Understand VCs Before You Pitch

• The VC Investment Process

• Creating Investor Demand

• Running a Parallel Fundraise

• Setting Urgency and Deadlines

• Pitching Effectively

• Closing the Round

• Examples of Startups That Created Massive Investor Demand

• What Most Founders Get Wrong

3. What Really Matters When Raising Capital

• Fundraising Is About Leverage

• Nail Your Pitch Materials

• Sources of Leverage (Young, Experienced, or Remote Founders)

• The Power of Accelerators

• Fundraising Mistakes That Kill Momentum

• Fundraising in the Age of AI

1. The Basics of Venture Capital

The history of modern venture capital

Check it out with the free trial (no strings attached), or jump straight into premium if you’re ready for the full scoop👇