Welcome to Inside the Deal Process — the show where we break down how investors actually decide to fund companies.

Today’s episode is about A pre-revenue SaaS startup lands a $4M seed round from a VC who passed on better-looking companies. We dissect the deal from both sides of the table.

EPISODE CHEAT SHEET DEAL TERMS REFERENCED:

• Pre-money valuation: $16M | Investment: $4M | Post-money: $20M | Dilution: 20%

• Structure: SAFE with $16M cap and 20% discount

• Investor rights: Pro-rata, observer board seat

• Runway: ~18 months at projected burn rate