Build a company investors actually want to fund

A 1:1 strategic advisory helping founders raise their first round of funding

GET INVESTORS TO YES

Base Layer helps you develop what you need under the hood of your business to move investors from “no” to “heck yes!”

This process is based on my 15+ years of experience working with diverse founders as a business attorney, startup founder, accelerator director, and VC.

I know Base Layer works; I’ve seen firsthand what it can do for the dozens of founders I have personally supported using this framework.

This is the kind of specialized guidance you just can’t Google or ChatGPT.

Who Is Base Layer For?

Base Layer is for domain experts becoming venture-backed founders for the first time.

You’ve got a great product idea and understand your space. What’s still new is everything around building a company investors want to fund.

So Base Layer is for people who are:

Deeply knowledgeable in the industry and/or pain point you are solving
Already building (not just ideating)
At (or close to) MVP, beta, or actively shipping product
Maybe having success raising friends & family funding or are bootstrapped
Now getting ready for or starting to raise your first round of funding
And are now realizing…

Your life would be SO MUCH easier — and you would save precious time, thousands of dollars, and infinite emotional energy — if you had an expert who could guide you through the process.

What Investors See

VCs like me see founders like you ALL THE TIME.

We might really like you as a person, we can see your potential, and we are interested in keeping in touch.

But it’s glaringly obvious that you’re still too green to fund.

So what you hear is “we think this is interesting, but you’re too early.” Most VCs don’t have the time or money or incentive to help fix this “earliness” problem.

A few VCs might have time for a coffee meeting, but they just don’t have the capacity to dig deep with you. And so you keep pushing and keep pitching, but you are hustling in the dark without understanding what exactly is going wrong.

This is where Base Layer’s VC perspective + hands-on support makes all the difference.

The Base Layer Process

Choose Your Funding Pathway

A 10,000-foot view of available funding options and associated pros and cons. Select a funding strategy to fit personal and business goals.
Ownership & Power

Ensure legal control, develop a cap table, and understand how to protect personal assets. Create a setup that makes funders feel comfortable.
Lock Down Your IP

Discover how to prioritize and protect different types of intellectual property. Keep valuable IP from leaving with contractors & employees.
Back It Up

Ace due diligence and build a solid data room for prospective funders (including financials, legal documents, market data, and more).
Make The Ask

Get more than just a first meeting. I’ll help you with investor etiquette, marketing materials, stakeholder updates, and best practices for building trust with investors.