How to Raise Your Seed Round in 90 Days Without Warm Intros
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How to Raise Your Seed Round in 90 Days Without Warm Intros
The exact 5-step process that's helped 200+ founders raise $500M+
Nick Holmes a Court
Qualification: I've been all sides of the fundraising table
Founded 3x VC Backed Startups
Personally raised $30M+, 2 Exits
Met with 1,000+ VCs
as both founder and investor
Venture Capital Team
at Amazon Web Services
Helped 400+ founders
With US and Global fundraising through Workshops and Accellerators
But My First Fundraise? It was a disaster
No network. No warm intros.
Sent 1000's of cold emails, met 100's of VC
Took 2 years to raise what should have taken 90 days.
Then I Learned What Actually Works
Fundraising isn't about who you know.
It's about having clarity and a process.
By the End of This Webinar, You'll Know...
Exactly who to target (and who to ignore)
How to write emails that get opened (and meetings booked)
How to create urgency so investors move fast
RAISE ACADEMY
How to Raise
Why Most Founders Fail (And How to Fix It)
Why Most Founders Fail at Fundraising
Targeting the wrong investors
Sending pitch decks VCs never open
Pitching too early (before having clarity)
Fundraising sequentially, not in parallel
Understanding the Fundraising Stages
Pre-Seed ($100K-500K)
Incubators, Angels, Pre-Seed Funds
Seed ($1M-3M)
Angel Investors, Early-stage VCs
Series A ($5M-20M)
VC Investors
Series B+ ($20M+)
Growth VCs
RAISE: Treat Fundraising Like a Project
Planning
Plan, tasks, team, timelines
Project Duration
Typical project: 6 weeks to 9 months
Embrace Resilience
Failure & rejection is normal
Parallel Progress
Parallel execution beats sequential
What Happens When Fundraising Takes Too Long?
Burn through runway
Miss market timing
Lose team morale
Competitors raise first
Forced to shut down
Introducing: The RAISE Method
R - Research & Prepare
A - Articulate Your Story
I - Initiate Contact
S - Secure Meetings
E - Execute the Close
Founders Who've Used This Process
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"Raised $2M in 12 weeks"
— Ryan De Coteau, Lumiate AI
"made a complicate concept finally make sense - and i raise a round"
— Kym Treasure, Audacia Audio
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"Went from 0 to term sheet in 9 weeks"
— Tim Williams, Astrasync AI
Ryan De Coteau
Founder & CEO of Lumiate AI
Let's Dive Into the 3 Secrets
These are the game-changers that separate successful fundraises from failed ones.
Secret #1: Investor Selection Success
Why most founders target the wrong investors (and how to find YOUR perfect 75)
There over 18,000 VCs Globally. How Do You Choose?
Most founders either:
Spray and pray
(email everyone)
Only target big-name VCs
(who ignore them)
Give up
because it's overwhelming
The 3-Filter System
Stage: Do they invest at your stage?
(Pre-seed, Seed, Series A)
Industry: Do they invest in your category?
(SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech, etc.)
Geography: Do they invest in your region?
(US, ANZ, Europe, Asia)
Result: 18,000 VCs → 75 perfect-fit investors
Let Me Show You How This Works
Watch how we go from 18,000 VCs → 75 targets in 5 minutes
Your Perfect 75 Investor List
What you now have:
75+ VCs who invest at your stage
In your industry
In your geography
With right person and contact details
Now You Know WHO to Target
Let's Talk About WHAT to Say.
Secret #2: What Actually Gets VC Attention
(And How to Get Warm Intros When You Have No Network)
Why VCs Don't Open Your Pitch Deck
Too busy
100+ decks per week, can only review 5-10
Too much noise
95% of pitches are outside their mandate
Attention scarcity
They protect their time ruthlessly
What Gets VCs to Stop Scrolling and Read
Three elements that capture attention:
Emotional connection with the problem
(they feel it viscerally)
Clarity + Quantification
(what problem, why it matters, measured impact)
Intrigue
(enough curiosity to want a conversation)
How to Get Warm Intros When You Have No Connections
The Insight
Attention is the scarce resource—even for the person making the intro, they wont analyse my deck or come up with investors
The Solution
Draft the intro email FOR them (make it effortless)
The Process:
- Use LinkedIn to find mutual connections to your target VC
- Look at the VC's portfolio—find founders you have connections to
- Draft a intro email for your connector
- Ask: "Would you be comfortable forwarding this to [VC]?"
The Email You Draft For Your Connector
Now You Know WHO to Target and WHAT to Say
Let's Talk About HOW to Close Fast
Secret #3: Driving Competitive Tension to Close Fast
Why single-investor fundraises take forever (and the parallel pipeline strategy)
Why Fundraising Takes 9 Months
Most founders fundraise sequentially:
Meet Investor A → Wait → Get rejected
Meet Investor B → Wait → Get "maybe"
Meet Investor C → Wait → Get "come back later"
Repeat 20 times → 9 months gone
The Parallel Pipeline Strategy
Meet 10-15 investors in the same 2-week window
Benefits:
Creates competitive tension
Accelerates decision timelines
Gives you leverage in negotiations
Increases probability of multiple term sheets
Tier Your Investor Meetings
Tier 3: Practice investors
(lowest desire) - Phase 1
Tier 2: Good-fit investors
(medium desire) - Phase 2
Tier 1: Dream investors
(highest desire) - Phase 3
What to Do in Your First VC Meeting
30-minute structure:
First 5 mins
Team, problem, solution, market, traction (no product demo)
Next 20 mins
Q&A with investor (you ask questions, not just answer)
Last 5 mins
Ask for intros or next steps
Ask Questions to Show You're Strategic
- "Have you seen anything similar in this space? How does this compare?"
- "From your perspective, what parts of this opportunity feel most exciting?"
- "If you were working on this business, what would you focus on?"
- "If you were chief strategy officer for a day, what would your top 3 priorities be"
- "What would you want to see in our next meeting?"
Get full meeting guides from the Raise Academy Website
Understanding What VCs Really Mean
Signals of strong interest:
"This is exactly what we're looking for"
"How quickly are you planning to close?"
"Can you send the data room?"
"Let me bring this to my partners"
The Polite 'No' (And How to Spot It)
Soft no signals:
"Really interesting, but it's a bit early for us"
"We'd love to track this, can you send monthly updates?"
"This isn't squarely within our thesis"
"Come back when you have more traction"
How to Use 'Soft Interest' to Create Urgency
When 2-3 investors show interest, tell the others:
"We're in active conversations with [Firm A] and [Firm B]"
"We're planning to close in the next 4 weeks"
"Would love to include you if there's mutual interest"
These 3 Secrets Are Just the Beginning
Recap:
Secret #1: The Investor Selection Framework
Secret #2: What Actually Gets VC Attention
Secret #3: Driving Competitive Tension to Close Fast
But there's a lot more to learn...
THE RAISE METHOD
Research & Prepare
(build your 75-investor list)
Articulate Your Story
(craft your pitch)
Initiate Contact
(get warm intros and send outreach)
Secure Meetings
(drive competitive tension)
Execute the Close
(negotiate term sheets)
Introducing Raise Squad
From fundraising challenges to VC cash in bank
Obstacle
No VC relationships
Don't know who to contact or how to get in.
VCs ghost you
Don't know how to position your startup to get their attention.
Running low on cash
Need to close fast, but the process is dragging.
Solution
10+ Qualified Meetings/Month
- 75 perfect-fit investors with contact or intro path.
- Repeatable outreach system that gets VCs to reply and book calls.
Startup Repositioned
- Email and one-pager templates that get replies and meetings.
- Pitch deck with clear vision, opportunity, and execution credibility.
Term Sheet & Funds in Bank
- VC meeting playbook: competitive tension, clear process.
- Term sheet & due diligence readiness to close fast.
Our Promises
First 24 Hours
Discover your perfect-fit 75 VC investors and get a clear path to contact them
First Week
Reposition your pitch narrative and rewrite your investor emails so VCs reply
End Month 1
Confidence and clarity on how to get VC meetings and what to say
End Month 2
10+ VC Meetings monthly with a feedback loop using VC gained insights gained to improve VC Fundability
End Month 3
Confidence creating Competitive Tension, negiotiating Term Sheets & Due Dilligence so you can put Cash in Bank
BONUS FOR SQUAD MEMBERS
Raise Academy Access
Learn how to fundraising in a 5 part online video training course
18k VC Research AI + 5 more
Saves months of VC contact discovery, plus Pitch Deck Mastermind AI, VC Email AI, ICP Architect AI
Weekly Zoom Squad Calls
Stay on track, with peer accountability, pitch practise, co-working and group Q&A w/ Nick
Deep Dive Workshops
Join monthly results focused workshops including "How to Quantify Traction" and "Get your first 5 US Customers
Fundraising founder community
Join 300+ founders on their capital raising journey for Advice, Feedback, Intros
Monthly Advisory Call
1-1 Advisory Calls with Nick to review your specific situation and plan for success.
This Isn't for Everyone
Who this is FOR:
Pre-seed to Seed stage founders
Raising $500K-$5M
Have quantified traction
Qualified by raise team as Venture Scale
Investment: $245 P/W
$245 USD per week if you start in March, goes up to $345 next month
Your Commitment
- 2 Hours Time Dedicated to Raise Squad Per Week
- You show up to scheduled Squad Calls (no-show without notice for >2 Calls = squad removal)
Guarantee: Love it or leave it - Cancel anytime in the first 7 days with no obligation
APPLY TO JOIN A RAISE SQUAD
Click the apply link in the chat
https://members.raise.academy/courses/offers/e1c3465e-71a1-4495-847c-bdd9a43a35bc
February Full - 4 spots available (after that there is a wait list) - Kick off call next Tuesday
Need 15 mins with Nick: https://cal.com/altitude-group/nick-holmesacourt-15min
BONUS FOR THE NEXT 30 MINS
Free 1 hour Working Session 1-1 with Nick - Pitch Deck Teardown and Rebuild
Convert your current website or deck into a Silicon Valley Grade VC Deck with clear venture narrative
In the next week you will have shiny new pitch deck you will be proud to show off.
WELCOME