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Insights on seed-stage fundraising, VC meetings, and startup evaluation.

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David Rakusan · May 28, 2026

Investor Pitch Deck Template: 10 Slides That Actually Work in 2026

Most pitch deck templates give you a structure but not an argument. This 10-slide investor pitch deck template for 2026 walks slide by slide through what to put on each slide, the proof signal each one should carry, the most common 2026 mistake, and the test for whether the slide is doing its job. Built on the team-weighting research from 885 institutional VCs and DocSend's 2024 behavioral data on how investors read decks.

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David Rakusan · May 21, 2026

How Long Does It Take to Close a Seed Round in 2026?

Most founders plan a six-week seed raise and end up inside a six-month one. Here is the honest 2026 timeline based on DocSend, Carta, Forum Ventures, and Affinity data, the four variables that decide your duration, and what fast-bucket founders do that the slow bucket does not. Proof shortens timelines. Hustle does not.

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David Rakusan · May 19, 2026

Pitch Deck Examples for Startups (and What Investors Actually Look at on Each Slide)

Most pitch deck guides show you what a great deck looks like. This one shows what investors actually read on each slide. Behavioral data from 30,000+ investor sessions, the slide-by-slide framework, and the proof signals that separate decks that move forward from decks that get a polite reply. Includes a 11-slide comparison table, a working redesign checklist, and the structural fix for the question-repetition trap that decks alone cannot solve.

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David Rakusan · May 19, 2026

Pre-Money vs Post-Money Valuation: What Founders Actually Sign in 2026

Pre-money is what the company is worth before new capital lands. Post-money is what it is worth after. The difference decides how much of your company you keep. This guide walks through the math, the SAFE switch that quietly transferred dilution risk from investors to founders, and what investors actually see when they read your cap table at the seed stage.

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David Rakusan · May 6, 2026

How Long Does It Take to Raise a Seed Round? The Real Timeline in 2026

The honest answer for 2026: a well-prepared seed round takes three to four months of active fundraising with proof, warm intros, and a clean data room. Without those, it stretches to eight or nine months and often never closes. Carta data shows the median seed to Series A interval is now 616 days, and only 15.4% of the Q1 2022 seed cohort graduated to Series A within two years. Here is what actually drives the timeline and how to compress it without cutting corners.

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David Rakusan · April 2, 2026

How to Find the Right VC for Your Startup (Before You Waste 38 Meetings)

The median seed round now takes 142 days to close (Carta, 2025), and most of that time is wasted on thesis-mismatched investors who would never invest regardless of how good the pitch is. This guide, written by a founder with 7 years of VC experience, breaks down the five filters every founder should apply before pitching, why thesis mismatches are the #1 cause of ghosting, and how structured proof can turn even cold outreach into a high signal message.

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