Free planner
Fundraising timeline planner: start before the runway forces you to
A seed round takes three to six months from first deck to money in the bank. Enter your runway, a safety buffer and the time each phase realistically takes, and the planner gives you the start-by date and the close-by date.
| Phase | Weeks | From | To | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation | 4 | … | … | Deck, data room, investor list, valuation range, rehearsed answers. |
| Outreach | 5 | … | … | Warm intros and cold emails in batches of 20; track replies. |
| First and second meetings | 6 | … | … | Run a tight process; aim for several term sheets in the same two weeks. |
| Diligence and term sheet | 4 | … | … | Data room questions, references, negotiation of terms. |
| Documents and closing | 3 | … | … | Lawyers, signatures, wires. Always takes longer than planned. |
How long does a seed round take?
Preparation two to six weeks, outreach four to eight, meetings and diligence four to eight, term sheet and legal three to six. Twelve to twenty-four weeks in total, longer in the summer and the second half of December. Founders who start with six months of runway often close with one.
The runway rule
Start when you have at least nine months of runway, so that a slow process still closes with a cushion. The buffer in the planner is the cash you refuse to spend during the raise, usually two to three months.
What slows a raise down
No lead investor, a valuation out of line with the metrics, missing documents in diligence, and summer. The readiness score and the due diligence checklist fix three of these before outreach starts.
If you are already late
Shorten the outreach phase with warm introductions in parallel, cut costs to extend the runway, and consider a bridge from existing investors on a SAFE. Tell investors a clear close date; it creates urgency.
Questions founders ask
Why does the planner use today’s date?
It calculates the start and close dates from your runway. The date comes from your browser and is not sent anywhere.
Are the phase durations realistic?
They are medians from the seed rounds we see; yours may differ by industry and geography. Adjust them.
What about grants or revenue?
Add expected non-dilutive cash to runway only if it is committed. Hoped-for money is not runway.
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