This article is part 3 of a series. If you’d like to read the other two, you can find them here:
How to Build a Web3 Deck That Doesn’t Suck
Why Most Founders Pitch VCs Completely Wrong (and how to fix it)
Calls, Valuations, and Docs Without the Chaos
You have the deck. You got the call. Now comes the part most founders underestimate: running the process, setting the right raise, and not getting tripped up by legal docs. This is where rounds can stall.
Let’s keep yours moving.
Get VC Funding, Step 1: Nail the Call
VCs skim through dozens of pitches a day. You only have a few minutes to stand out.
- Be clear about the problem, who it’s for, and why now
- Skip the buzzwords; share insight they haven’t already heard ten times this week
- Keep it tight: problem, solution, market
- Make it obvious why you are the one to pull this off; execution history, unique edge, or perspective matters as much as the idea itself
- Leave room for questions; remember this first call is a filter, not a deep dive
- Most importantly, be human; investors back people before products
Treat early calls as practice. Take a few reps before going to your highest priority funds.
Get VC Funding, Step 2: Follow Up Without Overdoing It
A strong follow-up makes you look sharp. A weak follow-up makes you look desperate.
- Keep messages short and useful
- Use the channel the VC prefers (email, Telegram, Signal)
- Personalize to show you’re paying attention
- Stick to timelines, don’t ghost
- Don’t flood inboxes; thoughtful and timely is the balance
If you’re juggling 10–20 conversations, track them. A simple Notion, Airtable, or Sheet with VC name, stage, last touchpoint, next step, and notes is enough. Without this, things slip.
And remember: little lies can come back to hurt you. Avoid over-promising (“we’re closing next week”) or telling different stories to different VCs.
Get VC Funding, Step 3: Decide How Much to Raise (And at What Valuation)
Most pre-seed pricing is more narrative than math. The mistake is assuming more money is always better.
A $2M raise on a $20M+ cap might feel good, but if you can’t grow into it quickly your next round becomes a down round, an “extension,” or nothing at all. Meanwhile the founder who raises $500k–$1M on a $10M–$15M cap is hitting milestones and moving smoothly into their seed.
Work backwards from milestones. Ask: what will actually de-risk the business between now and seed?
- First partners or integrations?
- MVP shipped?
- 5k–10k users onboarded?
- $100k annualized revenue?
- Smart contracts audited?
- Mainnet date locked in?
That’s your raise size. Not what someone in a Telegram chat told you is “market.”
Lean rounds create momentum. Scarcity builds demand. Inflated caps choke your next step and leave no room for your community to participate.
Get VC Funding, Step 4: Pick the Right Funds
Your raise size signals who belongs in the round.
- $500k–$1M rounds don’t fit billion-dollar multistage funds
- $3M–$4M rounds won’t be led by microfunds
Target funds that actually match your raise.
Get VC Funding, Step 5: Consider Tokenomics and Alignment
Your raise sets up your eventual token launch. Many founders make the mistake of structuring it in ways that set them up for failure later.
Vesting
- Roughly 3 year vesting with ~1 year cliff is still fairly standard for both team and investors
- Token warrants should reflect long-term belief and balance equity and token exposure so that investors are aligned with how value is likely to accrue, while also giving room for different preferences
- Founders should at a minimum vest on the same schedule as investors but ideally longer to show long term commitment to investors
- The real goal is alignment: team and investors motivated for the long run, while leaving room for the token to breathe at launch. Best practices are still evolving, so design for what works in the wild
Float and FDV
A common but dangerous pattern looks like this:
- $1B–$10B FDV at launch (sometimes lower for smaller projects)
- Less than 20% float in circulation
- Heavy team and investor allocations with steep unlocks
- Weak community and ecosystem allocations with distribution models that fail to create long-term incentives for sustainable growth
On paper it sounds impressive. In practice, the token usually trades down, retail gets burned, and you’re left defending an inflated valuation with no real market depth.
Community Participation
A lower valuation leaves upside for community contributors and retail believers. A clean launch with organic demand consistently outperforms a VC-heavy high FDV low float launch. Let the market help set the price.
Get VC Funding, Step 6: Decide Between SAFEs, SAFTs, and Token Warrants
When an investor leans in, docs move fast. Don’t wait for their template. Have your own.
- SAFE: simple agreement for future equity; clean, fast, valuation-agnostic
- Token warrant: rights to future tokens, often at set ratios like 1:1 or 2:1; usually paired with a SAFE in crypto pre-seed rounds
- SAFT: simple agreement for future tokens; rare at pre-seed, it is risky if you delay or pivot away from tokens
Want to know more? Check out a more detailed article below.
Common founder mistakes:
- Accepting whatever docs a VC sends without review
- Overpromising tokens (supply is finite)
- Ignoring dilution math across different agreements
- Tracking equity but not tokens, or tokens but not equity
The fix: prepare your own docs, track both sides from day one, and model dilution. Get a crypto-native lawyer before you sign anything.
The Real Win
Closing a pre-seed is often messy, emotional, and illogical. But it doesn’t have to be. If you handle calls well, follow up with intent, raise lean, and sign clean docs, you avoid most of the chaos and do what many founders can’t.
Celebrate. Then get back to building. Because now you have to deliver on the story you just sold.
TL;DR
- Nail the call: clear problem, why now, and why you.
- Follow up short, relevant, and consistent. Track every convo.
- Raise lean, not bloated. Work backwards from real milestones.
- Target funds that match your round size.
- Avoid short unlocks that invite mercenary capital.
- Lower caps leave room for community and retail participation.
- SAFEs plus token warrants are the norm. SAFTs are rare at pre-seed.
- Do not sign docs blindly. Model dilution and lawyer up early.
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