The Ultimate Guide To Funding Your Startup

Hey, Justin here, and welcome to Just Go Grind, a newsletter sharing the lessons, tactics, and stories of world-class founders! Premium subscribers get full access to this newsletter, exclusive events, event discounts, and more.

It’s been a crazy busy couple of weeks with the launch of Newsletter Founder and the May 19th launch of The LA Grind.

But I’m super excited about what’s to come with all of the things I’m working on and feeling rejuvenated after spending a day and a half in Palm Springs this week.

A few weeks back I ran a poll asking what your main challenges were right now.

The leading response?

Fundraising.

So we put together a few resources that will be helpful for you.

Some are recent, some are timeless, all can be useful in your process.

Do you have other resources that could be useful? Reply to this email with ones I should share in the future.

Also, I’m bringing back serendipity calls.

What are these?

15-minute calls with me to discuss anything.

We can talk about content strategy, newsletters, podcasts, growing media companies, fundraising, finding your life’s work, ANYTHING. I’ll help however I can.

I opened up a few spots in the next couple of weeks. Should be fun.

Alright, time for those fundraising resources.

Let’s dive in.

Foundational Knowledge: Startup Funding Basics

Learn the essentials from cap tables to how investors think.

• Y Combinator’s Startup Library: covers everything from how funding works to term sheets and pitch tips.

  • Recommended:

    • A Guide to Seed Fundraising

    • Modern Startup Funding

    • How Startup Fundraising Works

    • Understanding SAFEs and Priced Equity Rounds

    • How to Build Your Seed Round Pitch Deck

    • How to Build a Great Series A Pitch and Deck

    • Dalton & Michael: YC Founders Made These Fundraising Mistakes

    • Managing Startup Finances

• Startup School by YC: free course with videos on startup fundraising and business structure.

• First Round Capital’s “Field Guide”: great for founder stories and nuanced perspectives on early-stage fundraising.

  • Recommended:

    • The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise Billions in Follow-On Capital

    • Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling

    • The Founder's Field Guide for Navigating a Crisis

    • A Founder's Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Community and Fundraising

    • You Aren't Getting the Most Out of Your Investors — This is How to Start

Venture Capital Resources

Master the VC game from finding investors to closing your round.

• Crunchbase: use to research VCs, their portfolios, and funding rounds.

• NFX’s Fundraising Guides: insider tips on how VCs think, pitch deck strategies, and network effects.

• DocSend Startup Fundraising Report: real data on how long investors spend reviewing decks, and what matters most.

• AngelList: learn about syndicates, scout funds, and access to angel investors.

• Adamant and Funded by Jason Yeh

Alternative Funding Options

Discover non-VC routes like crowdfunding grants and revenue-based financing.

• Revenue-Based Financing

  • Pipe 

  • Capchase

• Crowdfunding Platforms

  • Wefunder

  • Republic 

  • StartEngine

  • Kickstarter

• Investors in Individuals

  • Chisos Capital

  • Crowdsurf

• Grants & Government Programs

  • Grants.gov (U.S. based)

  • SBA Funding Programs

• Accelerators, Incubators, and Residencies

  • Y Combinator

  • HF0

  • Techstars

  • Velocity

  • PearX

  • Sequoia Arc

  • Antler

  • Z Fellows

  • The Residency

  • Grid110

Tools for Pitching & Building

Everything you need to build pitch and protect your startup.

• Pitch Deck Hunt: a growing library of real, investor-approved pitch decks from companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, and Front. Use it as inspiration for structure, storytelling, and visual clarity.

• Pitch Deck Design

  • Slidebean

  • Canva (search “startup pitch deck”)

  • Deck Doctors

  • Gamma

• Legal Templates & Tools

  • Clerky

  • Cooley GO

  • SeedLegals (UK/EU)

Platforms to Discover and Connect with Investors

Use these curated tools and databases to find VCs, angels, and startup-friendly capital sources.

• NFX Signal by NfX: A powerful free platform for discovering and contacting investors by industry, stage, and geography

• First Round Angel Track by First Round Capital: A curated network of active, founder-friendly angel investors backed by First Round

• Airtable: Community of Women Angel Investors by Lolita Taub: A crowdsourced list of venture funds with investment preferences, stage focus, and contact info.

• Airtable: Diverse Investors List by Yuliya Bel: A public tracker of diverse investors and funds supporting underrepresented founders

• OpenVC by Steph Nass: A global open database of investors, complete with filters and cold email guidelines

• Gen Z VCs by Meagan Loyst: A fast-growing network and deal flow community for young investors and emerging founders.

Essential Funding Toolkits and Lists

Explore these curated spreadsheets, databases, and guides to streamline your fundraising process.

• Active Investor List by Trace Cohen: a comprehensive list of self-identified investors, including their investment focus, typical check sizes, and contact information. Remember: you need to fill the form to get the entire list.

• The Ultimate List of 750+ Seed Funds by Matt Estes: an extensive directory of seed funds, detailing their investment stages, sectors, and contact details.

• Founder Toolkit: Non-Dilutive Funding Guide by Alex Macdonald: a curated guide highlighting over 35 non-dilutive funding options, including grants and revenue-based financing.

• Commonapp.VC by Confluence.VC: a unified application platform allowing startups to submit their pitch to multiple VCs simultaneously.

• Woman VCs Twitter List by Christoph Janz: a curated list of female venture capitalists active on Twitter, sharing insights and advice for founders.

Newsletters and Blogs to Source from

Curated insights from top startup minds to keep you sharp.

• Term Sheet (by Fortune): Startup deal news

• StrictlyVC: Insider VC updates

• The Generalist: Deep dives into startup trends

  • Newsletter

  • Podcast

  • Recommended:

    • Lessons from 20 Years of Venture Capital: Roelof Botha (Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital)

    • Timeless Lessons from Great Investors

• Not Boring by Packy McCormick: Story-driven startup analysis

• This Week in Startups: Hosted by Jason Calacanis.

  • Newsletter

  • Podcast

I know there are MANY resources we didn’t include today so please share with us your favorite ones in a reply to this email 😊 

In the past two years, we’ve published dozens of deep dives on world-class founders, sharing how they built their companies. These typically take 20-30 hours to research and write. The most recent ones are below:

Best,
Justin

Founder of Just Go Grind

P.S. Hiring? Check out the team at Athyna