How to Raise a Seed Round in 2026: Ask Jason | E2294

About this episode

Jason Calacanis discusses the process of raising a seed round and answers viewer questions about startup differentiation and investor perceptions of hardware.

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Grasshopper Bank https://grasshopper.bank/twistLinkedIn Jobs https://LinkedIn.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today’s show: Jason breaks down the real math behind raising a seed round. Here’s the funnel: contact 150 firms, get 50 first meetings, convert 2o into second meetings, and close 2 term sheets. PLUS Jason responds to viewer questions about why hardware is no longer a dirty word for investors, how to differentiate your startup from frontier-model companies like OpenAI, even when they’re in your niche. Plus a pitch for “Founder Community College,” and anecdotes from Lon’s European odyssey. Thanks for the Questions: Richard Corral: CEO of Quanto: https://quanto.co/ ØnProtons on X: https://x.com/0nProtons SergeDawg on X: https://x.com/sergedawg Mahika Golani Peridot: https://www.tryperidot.com/ Shawn Sully on X: https://x.com/aroogle Programs and Accelerators Mentioned: Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/ Techstars: https://www.techstars.com/ Antler: https://www.antler.co/ PearX: https://pear.vc/pearx/ Sequoia ARC: https://www.sequoiacap.com/arc/ Kauffman Fellows…

People in this episode

Host: Jason Calacanis

Guests: Richard Corral, ØnProtons, SergeDawg, Mahika Golani, Shawn Sully

Topics covered

• seed funding
• startup advice
• investor relations
• hardware startups
• founder community

Keywords

• seed round
• fundraising
• investors
• startup differentiation
• hardware investment

Sponsors

Grasshopper Bank, LinkedIn Jobs, Northwest Registered Agent

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Quanto, Y Combinator, Techstars, Antler, PearX, Sequoia ARC, Kauffman Fellows, Whoop, Knightscope, Eight Sleep

Books & works: New Yorker Sam Altman profile

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