▸ Working paper // for founders
Bootstrap or raise? Start with how far you are from your first dollar.
Fundraising was never the goal. It was the workaround for the cost of a team you couldn't afford yet. That cost just collapsed, so the decision changed shape. This is the framework I use with founders when they ask.
- The new math. What ten hires cost a month, against what the same functions cost to start today.
- The milestone ladder. How far you can climb before capital, and honestly what AI cannot do for you.
- The runway worksheet. Fill in your own numbers and get your months, with a read on what they mean.
- The raise triggers. Six situations where capital is genuinely the right tool, and three that only look like it.
- The decision tree. Three questions. Bootstrap, raise later, or raise now.