Founders Talk: Why You Don't Want to Raise Equity

A one-to-one talk with Oleg Dmitriev, a serial entrepreneur with practical knowledge of seed funding and of taking a company through the “valley of death”, having raised over £3M of equity and over £0.5M of grant funding.

After his MBA, Oleg believed that selling equity, round after round, was the only way to grow. First-hand experience showed the traps along that route: investor approvals, KPIs and ratchets, liquidation preferences and more. How much does an equity round really cost — 5%, 10%, 15%? When each milestone takes longer, entrepreneurs can end up in a spiral of fundraising.

Oleg shared the legal traps to watch for and the red flags to be aware of.

Agenda

• 17:00–17:10 BST — Opening remarks, Astra Global.
• 17:10–17:40 BST — Talk by Oleg Dmitriev.
• 17:40–17:50 BST — Q&A.