Looking to fund your startup? If you're new to the process, fundraising can be difficult to navigate. Not only are there a myriad of ways to go about it, but it can be hard to tell whether the tips, tricks, and advice floating around are based on any evidence at all.
[This week, I'm turning the mic over to my friends at The Startup Podcast. featuring Carta's head of insights on what you need to know about today's fundraising environment and how AI is affecting valuations, equity, and how companies grow. Here's how they describe this episode...]So, what is the truth?
And what are the actual, data-backed insights that can help you choose the best method of fundraising for your own business?
Enter: Peter Walker.
As Head of Insights at Carta, he has access to, and industry knowledge about, the vast sets of funding data that will help you cut through the noise. Today, he joins Chris and Yaniv in discussing the real data behind startup funding trends in 2025 and the key takeaways you can apply to your own startups.
In this episode, you will:
- Discover why Silicon Valley valuations often hurt founders more than they help
- Understand how AI startups now account for nearly half of all venture funding, and what that means for non-AI founders
- Learn how lean AI-driven teams are reshaping early-stage hiring, with Series A companies shrinking from 25 employees to just 15
- See why most founders misunderstand SAFE notes
- Explore why 70% of startup employees never exercise their equity
- Uncover the reasons behind why nearly 40% of startups lose a co-founder within seven years
- Get clarity on founder vesting, equity splits, and why a six-year vesting schedule may protect your company better than four
- Reframe your goals as a founder: why chasing “life-changing money” isn’t the right reason to start a company
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- Get psyched!… There are some big updates to this show coming soon!
What is Future Around & Find Out?
You know what would be awesome? If we could build the future we want — before we muck it up.
Future Around & Find Out helps builders think clearly about AI and emerging technologies, grapple with the implications, and decide what to build next.
Independent technologist and former NPR journalist Dan Blumberg speaks with founders, makers, and you to celebrate breakthroughs, call BS on the hype, explore how things might go sideways — and how we can steer the future in the right direction.
The Webby Awards have honored the show (formerly known as CRAFTED.) as a top tech podcast three years in a row!
On Tuesdays, we feature interviews with the builders changing how we work, live, and play.
On FAFO Fridays, futurist Kwaku Aning joins Dan for a playful recap of the week in tech, including the amazing, the scary, and the strange.
You’ll also hear about innovations that too often get overshadowed by AI, including in deep tech, biotech, fintech, quantum computing, robotics, blockchain, and more.
Across it all, you’ll hear sharp takes on what comes next and what builders need to know now.
So let’s Future Around & Find Out together!
https://www.FutureAround.com