Mistakes founders make during fundraising (from a cfo who has done 50+ M&A and Exit deals)

Episode notes

Most founders make the same fundraising mistakes and do not realize it until the cash is gone. In this episode, I sit down with Julianne Averill, a healthcare AI CFO, board director, and fractional CFO with over 20 years of experience helping life science and digital health companies scale through fundraising, M&A, and IPOs. She has been through over 50 transactions on both the buy and sell side and currently serves as a fractional CFO working with multiple founders. We break down how startup funding actually works from Seed all the way to IPO. What investors are really looking for at each stage. The difference between debt and equity and why getting that wrong can be one of the most expensive decisions a founder makes. The 9 mistakes she sees founders make during fundraising that kill deals before they start. What actually happens when a company goes public and why it is not the finish line most people think it is. How AI is changing the way investors discover and evaluate companies. And the ideal finance team structure as a company scales. Whether you are raising capital, sitting on a board, or leading finance at a growing company, this episode covers the full picture.

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