You’ve done it! You’ve found the perfect partner and raised your first major round. The champagne’s been popped, your team is celebrating, and you finally have the capital to bring your vision to life.
But after the celebration day comes reality. The next morning, speed and urgency become everything.
The period right after funding is often called the honeymoon phase. It’s exciting, but it’s also perilous.
What you do in the first 6 months will determine whether you become part of the 10% of deep tech startups that succeed — or join the 90% that don’t.
At Market Operandi, we’ve seen it time and again: startups burn through their first round before achieving product/market fit. Your “fume date,” the day your funding runs dry, starts ticking immediately.
That’s why the earliest months are about action, aggression, and acceleration. You must identify and act on the critical steps that will shape your future. We help startups anticipate what’s coming 6, 9, and 18 months ahead, so they can accelerate success rather than scramble to fix mistakes.
To be specific, the deadly trap that startups fall into all too often is going too slow and ending up in fundraising mode BEFORE they hit their milestones and have the proof data to raise that next round. Remember: for subsequent rounds, your milestones are not just technical. You need to demonstrate product-market fit, evidence of how your business will scale, and initial commercial footholds. These all take time and specific effort.
Our goal? To get you to where you’d normally be in 18 months — in just 9. Giving you the time and momentum you need to raise your subsequent rounds and successfully get into the market.
Ready to accelerate your growth and make your first 6 months after funding truly count? Contact us at Market Operandi to build your momentum, hit your milestones, and get ahead fast.
About the Author:
Kevin Fahey, Ph.D, leads the Market Operandi team in bringing their technical and executive management expertise to deep tech B2B startups and innovation teams at larger organizations, enabling them to scale rapidly while mitigating risks. He and his team also help companies penetrate new markets and optimize for multi-market growth.
Over the past decade, Kevin has used his diverse experience to create MO's proprietary and vetted startup acceleration systems and framework, successfully guiding dozens of startups from their first institutional round of funding to and through their growth rounds.
As CEO of MO, Kevin has steered multiple obscure startups to become award-winning success stories.
Kevin holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.