The 5 ways every start up raises money

8 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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1:13

In this concise instructional video, Dan Novaes addresses one of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs—raising capital. He outlines the five core fundraising methods that every founder should understand: bootstrapping (self‑funded, full control, ideally already generating revenue), friends & family (early money from close personal networks with high risk and low expectations), angel investors (wealthy individuals writing smaller pre‑product or pre‑revenue checks seeking large returns), venture capital (institutional funds with deep pockets but demanding hyper‑growth and exit expectations), and crowdfunding (retail customers or everyday people making small investments based on belief in the product). Novaes emphasizes the trade‑offs of each approach, warns founders to manage expectations—especially with friends and family—and ends with a call‑to‑action to follow the channel for more free hacks.

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One of the hardest things in entrepreneurship is raising capital. And I know what you're probably thinking. How do I raise money? I have a great idea for a company. I just need the startup capital to get it off the ground. There are 5 core fundraising types every founder needs to understand. The first is bootstrapping. This means that you're self-funded. You don't have any investors, you have full control, and ideally you're already making some money. This is a great place to be. Secondly, friends and family. Early money from your closest networks. The risk is high and expectations are generally low because they're investing in you. But you want to be careful here because if things don't go right, make sure that your friends and family know that there is a risk they could lose it all. Angel investors. These are wealthy individuals that are writing smaller checks. Often these are pre-product or pre-revenue, and they are looking for the big returns. Venture capital. These are institutional investors, sophisticated funds with big pockets. But the expectations of hypergrowth and exits are also very real, and they are typically the hardest people to raise money from. And lastly, we have crowdfunding. These are retail investors, everyday people, often customers that can back your business if they believe in what you are building. And they also tend to make much smaller investments. If you want to get more of this, follow us and get all of our hacks for free.