💰 How Much to Raise?

👋 Hey - Egemen here.

Most founders obsess over valuation, but the real trap is the round size.

Ask for too little and you are fundraising again just as things start working.
Ask for too much and you build a cost base that kills you at Series A.

I use a simple way to think about it: raise enough to reach your next fundable moment, with a real buffer, at dilution you can live with. Most serious guides land in the same zone.

I will walk through it the way we do with founders.

Here's a snapshot of what's on the menu today:

💡 Spotlight

Startups who switch to Intercom can save up to $12,000/year

Startups who read beehiiv can receive a 90% discount on Intercom's AI-first customer service platform, plus Fin-the #1 AI agent for customer service-free for a full year.

That's like having a full-time human support agent at no cost.

What's included?

Who's eligible?

Intercom's program is for high-growth, high-potential companies that are:

Apply now

🧠 Deep-Dive: How much to raise?

Forget the word "round" for a second.

Think in terms of: what has to be true 18 months from now so that good investors want to write you a bigger check.

That is your fundable moment.

For a typical software startup, this is something like:

If you are earlier, your next fundable moment may be more basic:

Write that down in plain language. One short paragraph. That paragraph is the real goal of this round.

Now work backwards. To get there, what do you need to actually do.

I like to break it into three buckets:

For example, a seed stage B2B SaaS plan could look like:

Keep this part boring and concrete. No buzzwords. Just work.

Then, translate that into a real monthly burn. No heroics. No underpaying by half. Pick 18 months of runway as your default and multiply, also add a 20 to 30 percent buffer.

Check the implied dilution against realistic seed valuations in your region.

That is how I think about "how much to raise".
Not as a status symbol. Not as a vibes-based guess. Just as a clear trade: this much ownership for this much time to hit very specific proof points.

Get that trade mostly right and a lot of other things in your fundraising become easier.

👋 Become a SCALABLE member, gain an unfair advantage today.

🗺️ Method

Benchmark Your Voice AI

Deepgram surveyed 400 senior leaders on voice AI to map adoption, budgets, and use cases. Compare your voice AI roadmap to $100M+ enterprises and learn where to invest next - human-like agents for customer service, task automation, and order capture - plus benchmarks to guide your 2026 plan.

See the Findings

⚾️ Catch

Make Every Platform Work for Your Ads

Marketers waste millions on bad creatives.
You don't have to.

Neurons AI predicts effectiveness in seconds.
Not days. Not weeks.

Test for recall, attention, impact, and more; before a dollar gets spent.

Brands like Google, Facebook, and Coca-Cola already trust it. Neurons clients saw results like +73% CTR, 2x CVR, and +20% brand awareness.

Get a 14-day FREE trial & start improving your ads, at top speed.

☝️ Scaled This Past Week: Dost

Dost just raised 6M GBP - it's the scale of the week!

Here's what they do:

Do you like SCALABLE?