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Playbooks for raising capital and selling your company
17 articles from Jason Kirby. No theory, no fluff, just what works.
The Post-Exit Mistakes Founders Make With Money, Risk & Mindset
Read the article
How to Get in Front of Buyers Before You're for Sale
The average first-handshake-to-LOI timeline runs up to 21 months. If you wait until you're ready to sell, you've already missed the window.
How Corp Dev and Product Teams Think About Build vs Buy
When you're the founder, you're running corp dev and product simultaneously — here's how to simulate the tension that sharpens both decisions.
How to Sell Your Startup When You're Low on Runway
A tactical guide from a founder who's been on every side of the table: when to sell, how to find buyers fast, and how to land the plane without crashing.
Who Actually Buys Founder-Led Startups: Strategics, Rollups & PE
Most founders imagine the perfect acquirer. Real buyers want clean financials, sticky customers, and systems that run without you — here's how each type actually operates.
Why "Quick" Fundraises Rarely Happen: A Realistic Timeline
Founders consistently underestimate how long a VC round takes. Here's what actually happens — and how to stop burning months on avoidable delays.
Why Investors Don't Fund Overworked Founders
Founders who raise capital protect their time ruthlessly — they're not filing 83(b)s or chasing payroll. Here's what separates the ones who close rounds from the ones who burn out.
What Actually Happens to Startups That Never IPO or Get Acquired
Most startups don't land a headline exit. Here's what the realistic outcomes look like—and how to plan for them before you hit a wall.
Equity, Debt, or M&A: Picking the Right Capital Strategy
Most founders default to VC because it's the loudest story in the headlines. Here's how to match your capital strategy to your actual business.
If Women-Led Startups Outperform, Why Do Investors Still Hesitate?
Women-founded startups receive ~2% of VC dollars despite outperforming by 60%—here's why the math still doesn't add up, and what's actually changing.
Reverse Engineering an Investor Pipeline That Closes
Most founders build their investor pipeline like a bad sales funnel—too many leads, no qualifiers, zero strategy. Here's how to fix that.
DeepSeek's $6M AI Model: What Founders Should Learn About Capital Efficiency
DeepSeek trained a model rivalling OpenAI's o1 for under $6M and wiped $560B from Nvidia's market cap — here's the disruption playbook founders should steal.
How to Decode and Handle the 15 Toughest VC Questions
Investors rarely say what they mean. Here's what 15 common VC questions actually signal—and exactly how to respond to each one.
Startup Trends VCs Are Betting On in 2025
A sector-by-sector breakdown of where venture capital is flowing, and what it means for founders deciding where to build and raise.
Founder Branding: Why Your Personal Narrative Moves Investors
If you're planning to raise capital in the next 6–9 months, building a personal brand isn't optional—it's your pitch deck in human form.
100 Newsletters In: What Starting Thunder Actually Taught Me
Jason Kirby reflects on why he built Thunder after a failed startup, what 400+ companies raising $1.2B+ looks like in practice, and what SAFE dilution data from Carta actually means for founders.
How to Raise Capital When Investors Are Tightening Belts
Funding winters don't stop great companies — but they do punish sloppy pitches, thin networks, and founders who haven't extended their runway.
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