Have you ever been rejected? Have you ever been rejected over and over? That is what fundraising feels like sometimes. Email after email letting you down gently.

If anyone tells you fundraising is easy or if you hire them, they will fundraise for you, they are wrong. The weight is on the entrepreneurs shoulders. No pressure! If it is an early stage fundraising, this is even more true. The investor must not only believe in the idea, but that the entrepreneur is capable of bringing it to market successfully.

Here are my top tips for getting through fundraising

Remember you are the expert and you know your market best. Do not lose that confidence regardless of where you are in the fundraising process.
Find a fund whose investment thesis and criteria are a match for your startup. Many VCs have the information on their website. If you have the opportunity to do an introductory call, feel free to ask the VC. The criteria could be industry specific, be specific to a series of funding (pre-seed, seed, Series A, B, etc.), require a certain revenue amount or gross margin, or require you to be cash flow positive among many other things.
Set your expectations as you begin fundraising so you do not feel failure. It may take 50 meetings to get the right fund to lead your round. In addition, the more potential leads you have the better negotiating power you have.
Request feedback from any investor that did pass. Maybe you are missing something, or perhaps your pitch needs tweaking.

Just remember if running a startup was easy, everyone would do it! I believe the experience and rewards you have with your startup will far outweigh anything you could have imagined.