Understanding how the investor side of this process works changes everything. This article covers what happens inside a UK VC fund after your first meeting, what genuine interest looks like versus polite deferral, what to send and when, what a UK term sheet actually contains and how to read it, what two parts of the UK ecosystem say about it, and the single most important tactical decision in the arc from first meeting to term sheet. […]
Understanding how the investor side of this process works changes everything. This article covers what happens inside a UK VC fund after your first meeting, what genuine interest looks like versus polite deferral, what to send and when, what a UK term sheet actually contains and how to read it, what two parts of the UK ecosystem say about it, and the single most important tactical decision in the arc from first meeting to term sheet. […]
The founders who raise most quickly are almost never the ones who sent the most emails. They are the ones who engineered the right conversations through the right people. Warm introductions. Systematic, deliberate, prepared. […]
In my investing years, companies that had stacked non-dilutive funding before raising equity were almost always better investments. More runway. More milestones proven. Lower ask. Stronger negotiating position. […]
This morning I spent a couple of hours at Barclays Eagle Labs in Glasgow at Future Makers, a Circular Glasgow breakfast on where climate innovation meets commercial opportunity. Lisa Torrance from Glasgow Chamber and Natalie Cutting and the team from Barclays pulled together a properly mixed room: tech, manufacturing, academia, architecture, AI, energy, finance and the arts. Even farming, I think! […]
Read More… from Future Makers: what a room full of climate founders taught me about money
Scotland’s entrepreneurial infrastructure has never been stronger. Over the last decade the ecosystem has moved from a handful of well-intentioned programmes to a genuinely diverse network of incubators, accelerators, and innovation hubs spanning every region – from the Highlands to the Borders, from Aberdeen’s energy transition zone to Glasgow’s industrial biotech corridor. […]
Read More… from The Scottish Incubator & Accelerator Map. Where to Go. What to Expect.
That deck may work beautifully in an inbox. On stage it has a different job.
Your investor deck is built to be read. Your event deck is there to support you while you speak. The audience should be listening to you, not decoding paragraphs and charts on the screen behind you.
So don’t just trim a few slides off your usual deck. Rework it for the room. […]
You heard me. Most founders get the sequence backwards. They build the product, then go looking for someone to sell it to. Wrong. Flip it. […]
Founders can lose the room in the first minute. Not because the idea is weak, but because they pitch the technology instead of the problem, and ask for money before they’ve earned the right to. […]
The autumn raise is twelve dedicated working weeks at the least. Here’s how the season actually runs, and what you need in your hands before investors switch back on. […]
Read More… from Close your round by Christmas? You’re Already Behind.
I have reviewed hundreds of investor outreach lists from UK tech founders over the years. Most of them are long on names and short on thinking. A list of 40 funds found on Google or a BVCA directory, with a bulk email to each one, is not a fundraising strategy. It is noise. The funds on the receiving end have seen thousands of versions of it. […]
Read More… from Building Your Fundraise Investor List: From Chaos to Pipeline
I was recently asked by an enterprising fintech start-up to join their advisory board. While I am considering it, the conversation got me thinking about best practices, and about how consistently founders underestimate this lever. So here are some thoughts, specifically for UK founders who are getting ready to raise. […]
Read More… from 100+ Pitch Events & Competitions for UK Founders 2026/2027
I have walked away from companies I was genuinely excited about. Not because the technology wasn’t working. Not because the market was too small. Because the co-founder arrangement was undocumented or unclear, and I couldn’t see how the cap table would survive Series A diligence. It wasn’t that the conflict had happened yet. The conditions for it were in place, but there was no mechanism to resolve it. […]
Field trials cost money. Glasshouses and robotics cost money. Proximity to working farms, test beds and the right research base matters enormously. And choosing the wrong programme can cost you a growing season you can’t get back.
This is not an exhaustive directory. But it’s a practical starting point: a map of the key agritech incubators, accelerators and innovation hubs across the UK. Where they sit. What they do. Whether they’re worth your time. […]
Read More… from Fundraising 101 UK Agritech Accelerator & Incubator Map
The best time to understand a term sheet is before you receive one. I have seen UK tech founders sign term sheets they did not fully understand, discover the implications only when the legal documents landed, and find themselves in a position they had to accept because the no-shop clause had already prevented them from going back to other investors. […]
I have sat in hundreds of pitch meetings over 30 years. The founders who fumble their own financial projections, who have to look at their deck to answer a question about their own burn rate, or who can’t explain what causes the revenue inflection in year three of their model, do more damage in that moment than any individual bad assumption in the model. It’s not the number that’s the problem. It’s that not knowing it signals you don’t understand your own business as a business. […]
Read More… from Fundraising Financial Modelling (for Founders who aren’t CFOs)
Every round I was involved in that closed cleanly had the same characteristic: the founder was running the process, not reacting to it. They knew who was in, who was out, what the timeline was, and what needed to happen next. They had identified a lead investor early and were prioritising that relationship above everything else. […]
In my investing years I reviewed hundreds of cap tables. I could tell within a few minutes whether the founding team had thought carefully about their equity structure or whether they’d got to incorporation, issued some shares, and moved on. The second type invariably created problems. Sometimes small, fixable problems. Sometimes deal-breaking ones. […]
I’ve watched deals close on EIS eligibility alone that might have struggled without it. I’ve also watched founders walk into meetings with UK angels and mention EIS as a footnote on their legal slide. Those are two very different conversations with very different outcomes. […]
Read More… from SEIS & EIS: A Practical Guide for UK Tech Founders
Getting this wrong in either direction costs you. Overvalue and experienced investors walk without telling you why. Undervalue and you set a precedent that complicates every subsequent round and may trigger anti-dilution provisions you didn’t anticipate. […]
In my investing years I could tell within the first hour of diligence whether a founder had built a company or just built a pitch. The ones who had their house in order before we asked had nothing to fear. Their data room was organised. Their responses were fast and complete. When problems existed — and they almost always did — they were flagged proactively with a resolution plan already attached. […]
30 years in venture capital. 80+ companies invested in. 500+ ventures coached in fundraising. And the single biggest change I’ve watched in the last year isn’t a new fund, a new sector, or a new stage. It’s a machine sitting between every founder and every cheque. […]
Read More… from AI in Fundraising: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
I have evaluated thousands of pitches, first from inside venture capital funds, now across the 500 plus ventures I have coached before and during Fundraising101. I have been on the receiving end of more cold one-pagers than I can count. So let me tell you exactly what happens to yours. […]
Read More… from Dump your One-Page Pitch. Time for a Teaser Deck.
Most guides about fundraising tell you what to do. This one tells you what is actually happening — from the other side of the table. And THEN what to do about it. […]
Read More… from Fundraising Is Tough…But It Doesn’t Have To Be
Where to Start. Who to Talk To. If you’re building something in biotech, synthetic biology, industrial biotech, life sciences or the bio-based circular economy, geography still matters.
Labs cost money. Equipment costs money. Proximity to the right expertise matters enormously. And choosing the wrong programme can cost you 12 months you can’t get back. […]
Read More… from Fundraising 101 UK Bio Incubator & Accelerator Map
I attended the launch of the Scottish Deep Tech Report 2026 this week, produced by Dealroom in partnership with the University of Glasgow. I’ve read it cover to cover and I’ve been thinking about it since. Here’s my honest, detailed take. […]
Read More… from Scotland’s Deep Tech Ecosystem: More Impressive Than You Think. And More Fragile.
If you’ve described your business as “purpose-driven,” “social impact,” “mission-led,” or “ESG-aligned” — you’re not alone. And you’re probably also aware that these terms mean different things to different people, including the investors you’re trying to reach. […]
Read More… from Long-Read: Funding Your Social-Impact Business
I’ve spent 30 years on the investor side of the table in UK venture capital and technology investment. In that time I have sat across from hundreds of founders at every stage; from raw pre-seed pitches with a deck and a dream to Series B companies with product, revenue, and a team. The single most consistent mistake I’ve seen founders make when they walk into a funding conversation is this: they try to convince me their company has no risk. […]
Read More… from How Venture Capital Investors Think About Risk
I was recently asked by an enterprising fintech start-up to join their advisory board. While I am considering it, the conversation got me thinking about best practices, and about how consistently founders underestimate this lever. So here are some thoughts, specifically for UK founders who are getting ready to raise. […]
Read More… from Why Every UK Start-Up Should Build an Advisory Board
Did you know? Funds are now using AI to screen the tidal wave of inbound pitch decks landing in their inboxes every week. Founders scraping investor lists and blasting the same generic deck to hundreds of contacts, spray and pray, are not just wasting their own time. They are being filtered out automatically. […]
Read More… from OMG! Stop Sending One Pitch Deck to Everyone!
Most pre-seed founders think the pitch deck is the main event. It isn’t. It’s the opening act. The moment an investor says “send me more,” the real show begins — and if you don’t have a data room ready to go, you’re already behind. […]
Read More… from Your Data Room Is Not Optional. Here’s How to Build One That Works.
Fundraising101™ Academy and FounderCatalyst unite to give pre-seed founders a seamless, end-to-end journey – from investor-ready pitch to legally closed funding round. […]
Scotland’s Fundraising101™ Academy and UK-wide Money Insights are combining their complementary expertise. […]
Read More… from Fundraising101™ and Money Insights Join Forces for Scottish Founders
Want to join my podcast? I’m seeking early-stage funders to interview on Fundraising 101’s new podcast channel! This is about having honest conversations with investors who actually write pre-seed checks. […]
Read More… from Inside Track: The pre-seed investment podcast
Using AI as your Fundraising Co-Pilot […]
Post-Investment & Governance […]
Legal Essentials & Term Sheets […]
The Fundraising Process […]
Identifying & Targeting Investors […]
Financial Planning & Projections […]
Creating an Impactful Pitch Deck […]
Building Your Team & Advisory Board […]
Getting Ready to Raise – The Basics […]
Fundraising Landscape & Mindset […]
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