📘 Things I’m reading this week - 14/02/2025

1️⃣ https://open.substack.com/pub/capitalnerd/p/the-startup-capital-raising-process

This short read from the Aussie Startup Capital Nerd (aka Warwick Donaldson) is an excellent source of information as many founders and startups gear up for their first capital raise. In the article, Warwick breaks down his blueprint for running a successful capital raise into four key steps - pathway and qualification, preparation, cultivation and execution. There are some seriously helpful (and simple) tips in hear, and I highly recommend that anyone about to embark on their first (or second) raise take 5-10mins to read it.

2️⃣ https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4A-a-guide-to-seed-fundraising

Sticking to the theme of fundraising. This guide to seed raising from Y-combinator is also really helpful. thing I really like about this guide is the focus on both the “why” and the “when” to raise money. Both are critically important questions to answer before embarking on a capital raise. The other key question is “how much”, and the thing to keep in mind when answering that question is that early capital is expensive capital - so only raise the amount you need (you can read more about this specific topic in a previous post I shared here)

3️⃣ https://www.altex.org/index.php/altex/article/view/2376

I’ve been reading a lot about GMP and good cell culture practices recently, while I would say the above is an interesting read, it is incredibly helpful. If you are using lab-based cell culture techniques, then absolutely take a read. The attached document entitled “Guidance document on Good Cell and Tissue Culture Practice 2.0 (GCCP 2.0)” describes the six main principles to consider when performing cell culture. This document could be incredibly valuable for biomanufacturing companies leveraging cell-culture to produce consumer food products.