Part 8/12:
The speakers articulated a consensus: raising the right amount of capital at the appropriate stage is critical. Gao emphasized that undervaluing early rounds can hamper scaling, while over-dilution diminishes founders’ equity before reaching significant milestones. Raising larger seed rounds can facilitate quicker growth but also come with expectations of demonstrating advanced product deployment or market traction.
Kawa and Kalyan shared their own strategies of delaying funding until achieving specific benchmarks—such as user adoption and product stability—to command higher valuations and reduce dilution. Both reiterated the importance of being prepared for subsequent rounds, with clear use-cases and growth metrics that justify increased valuation.