This may be a very specific example, but it all goes back to the number one rule in raising: If you‘re a hot startup, you make the terms. If you‘re in need of money, they make the terms.

If anything, focus on growth, revenue and timing so that you‘ve got both good curves in the reports and more than two investor options lined up when it‘s time to raise. Nothing else matters.

We lost our biggest client around Series A stage and were strong-armed into a seed stage contract with bad valuation and lots of other unfavorable terms. We signed it because we had to.

Two years later, we had managed to get our act back together and had a basically infinite runway through our own revenue. And that power to say no completely turned the dynamics around.

The same main investor basically begged us to take more money, so when we wanted to accelerate a bit, we told him we had a last offer for him to invest and left the room with it on the table.

He didn‘t even insist on participating LP, as he was so glad to get a small additional piece of that rocket ship.

There‘s a million ways to screw founders and just a single way to avoid it: Show traction and the money will find you.