You bring the track record and the network. We take you from no company to actively raising funds within six weeks.
One advisor. One fixed fee. No percentage of what you raise, and no equity.
Built for operators starting their next company.
You've done this before. You've built, run or sold a business, or held a senior operating role. The people who know you have watched you deliver, and many of them would want to hear what you're building next.
You're starting something that needs capital from day one. The company doesn't exist yet, or was recently started. Before the first investor conversation, it needs:
- The right entity and charter
- Founder shares and a clean ownership table
- A stock option plan and an advisory board
- A financial model and use of proceeds
- An investor presentation and summary
- A term sheet, subscription agreement and risk factors
- A Form D filing
- A data room that holds up to investor diligence
All of this generally requires seven kinds of professionals. Going from incorporation to a properly launched private placement typically means hiring a corporate lawyer, a securities lawyer, a fractional CFO, a writer, a designer, an outreach firm and a pitch coach, and then making their work fit together.
Hi, I'm Joel Arberman.
I'll be your single point of contact.
I've spent more than 30 years in capital markets: as an analyst at multi-billion-dollar asset managers, in institutional sell-side equity research, and as a partner at a 700-person investment bank. I've seen capital raises from three perspectives: how investors evaluate opportunities, how financial professionals structure them, and how management teams actually execute them.
I've taken four of my own companies public and taken a total of 17 companies public. I founded Meraki Partners and launched Prepared to Raise to bring that same institutional rigor to founders getting ready to raise capital.
With Founder Launch, I work with you directly from forming the company to supporting your outreach, for a fixed fee, with no equity, warrants or percentage of what you raise.
One advisor instead of seven.
Founder Launch does it all, from forming the company to supporting your outreach, under one advisor.
- Up to 30% less than buying the same work from separate firms.
- A single point of contact who handles every step, so you don't have to find, hire and coordinate a team.
- Consistent everywhere. One story and one set of numbers across the financial model, the presentation, the documents and every message.
- Raising within six weeks. We work on the steps at the same time, while separate firms usually work one after another, which can take months.
- Payments spread over six months, instead of the retainers and deposits most firms ask for up front.
Savings compared with typical U.S. market rates for the same work bought separately.
From a new company to an active raise
Weeks 1 to 2
Launch the company
About two weeks. We form your U.S. company the way companies are built before they go public: governing documents, founder shares and a clean ownership table, shares set aside for future employees and advisors, an advisory board, the paperwork for a company bank account, and a secure data room where investors can review everything.
Weeks 1 to 5
Build the raise
About three weeks, alongside the company setup. We decide together how much to raise, in what stages and on what terms. Then we prepare everything investors will want to see: your story, a financial model, a presentation, a summary, a one-page teaser and the documents they sign. We rehearse an investor meeting with you and give you a step-by-step Raise Playbook built for your company.
Week 6 onward
Marketing assistance
From launch through the end of the engagement. We organize your contacts, set up email and scheduling in your name, write your messages for your approval, send them in waves you approve, and help you prepare for every call. We meet weekly to review who replied and who needs a follow-up. Every message is yours, every reply comes to you, and every investor conversation is yours.
What a well-prepared raise can lead to.
$1 million became $3.3 million. A founder planned to raise $1 million. After preparation, the round closed at $3.3 million, and the next one raised $7 million.
From startup to Nasdaq. A company that was basically a startup raised $825,000 in a private placement, then $1.6 million in preferred shares, then $2 million in equity, then more than $13.5 million in a public offering, and listed on Nasdaq.
Underway now. We're forming and preparing several new companies for experienced operators, each raising from the people who know them, with outreach running in the founder's name.
Questions founders ask.
What does Founder Launch cost?
Founder Launch starts with $10,000 at signing. Total fees are typically over $100,000 when starting from company formation, including all raise preparation and outreach assistance, paid monthly with the largest payment at the end. There's no percentage of what you raise, no equity and no success fee, and you can stop at the start of any month. We confirm the exact fee after a free intro call.
Do you raise the money for me?
No. You raise it, from people who know you. We form the company, prepare the raise and handle the marketing logistics, but every message is in your name and every investor conversation is yours. We never contact investors or take a share of what's raised.
Why not just hire a lawyer and a fractional CFO?
You can. You'll also need a securities lawyer, a designer, a writer, an outreach firm and a pitch coach, and you'll be the one making their work fit together. Do you have the experience and the time to get it all right? Investors notice when the numbers in the presentation don't match the model or the terms.
Why no success fee?
We're not an investment bank, a broker-dealer or otherwise licensed to raise capital, so we don't get paid based on what you raise. Fixed fees also keep the offering clean and keep every dollar you raise in the company. Our fee is for the work, like a lawyer's or an accountant's.
What if I don't raise the full amount I want?
Raising capital depends on many things: your pitch, presentation and paperwork, the deal terms, your team and traction, how well you tell your story, how well you follow up, and how many people you speak to. We can't control the outcome. We guide you through the details that maximize your effort and your opportunities, and we recommend offering terms and a structure based on our experience, which you're welcome to adopt or ignore.
My company already exists. Is this for me?
Yes, if you need a substantially more comprehensive package than our Network Raise, Growth Capital or Reg CF packages. If your company is already formed, you may not need incorporation or organizational resolutions, and we reduce the fee for that part. Founder Launch also includes outreach assistance, which the other packages don't.
Do I need a lawyer?
We prepare the documents and you approve them before anything is used. You may have a lawyer review them, and we recommend it, but it isn't required.
I'm not in the U.S. Can you help?
Yes. We form a U.S. company and prepare a U.S. offering. You engage local counsel for your home-country requirements, and we coordinate with them.
Let's talk about your next company.
Every engagement starts with a free 20-minute intro call.