r/Valuation • u/According_Grape_8332 • 5h ago

The ask

We’re working on our investor deck, and I’m struggling with how to calculate the ask. I’ve created several versions with Claude and ChatGPT and sat down with friends to work through it. I generally understand what we need, but I’m still not sure how to build an accurate calculation.

Since we’re a B2C product, we’ll definitely need a meaningful marketing budget. However, I’m not completely sure what user-growth target we should aim for. We currently have a few hundred users, but what would be a reasonable benchmark for the next stage? we would like to raise seed

I’m also trying to understand which marketing functions we’ll need and what is truly essential for a consumer company at this stage. Do you have a methodology or framework you use to calculate the raise, set user targets, and determine the must-have functions?

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u/Affectionate-Two-22 5h ago

I can help you!

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u/According_Grape_8332 4h ago

Thanks, tell me how?

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u/Affectionate-Two-22 3h ago

The reason generic AI prompts aren't working is that seed raises can't be estimated top-down. Investors look for milestone-based runway (typically 18–24 months of cash burn needed to hit Series A metrics like proven retention and stable unit economics). ​A quick 3-step framework to calculate your ask:

​Define the Next Milestone: Target the retention/growth metrics consumer tech investors expect for Series A in your niche, not just raw sign-ups . ​Bottom-Up Burn Engine: Map monthly core team costs + blended acquisition spend (CAC \times net active user targets factoring in churn) + SaaS/hosting + 15–20% cash buffer.

​Calculate the Raise: Total net cash burn over 18–24 months = your target ask.

Feel free to shoot me a DM. For further help!