Massive Growth or Profitable - Those Are the Options
January 22, 2026
The new World of AI has changed investor expectations for startups and that is making survival more and more binary.
Today, we’re talking about the 3 plans you need for Seed fundraising.
Plan A — This is usually a $1–3M fundraise that will last approximately 1.5 to 2.5 years. You should present this plan to Seed funds, ie those writing checks from $500k-$2M, and once you have momentum say $500k of your round raised, then you can present it to small checks too.
Plan B — Usually a $250k to $1M raise. You might expect this to last 9–12 months and take you to the next milestone, so you’ll be ready to raise your Plan A round. I would suggest presenting this plan to smaller check writers — $250k or less — until you have $500k+ raised.
Lastly Plan Big VC. Usually $4M+ and lasting 2–3 years. When you’re seed fundraising, you might encounter larger VCs who want to meet. If you present a $2M round to them, it will almost certainly result in a no. Instead of wasting that meeting — present a plan that fits with the larger VCs usual check size.
