Prologue Blog

Notes for founders getting investor-ready

Sketch of a founder on a road to revenue, comparing an alarm clock labelled top-line investor with an hourglass labelled patient capital
FundraisingTerm Sheets

The Right Money: Who Invests Matters

Patient capital, sector-fit investors and the term sheet clauses every founder should read twice.

Monica Gupta
Monica GuptaCo-Founder and CEO, Earlyseed Ventures · 9 min read
A term sheet with one line circled: a pool of 20 shares, created before Esha invests. Esha points at it, and beside the house sits an empty chair labelled future caretaker.
Startup ConceptsESOPs

ESOP Essentials: A Slice for Farhan

Part 3 of Finance for the Fundraising-Curious. ESOPs, vesting, the cliff, and who really pays for the pool.

Sakshay Upadhyay
Sakshay UpadhyayInvestment Associate at Earlyseed Ventures · 9 min read
A napkin sketch of a cargo ship labelled imports sailing away while a workshop rolls out a drone, a rocket and a radar dish
Sector InsightsDefence

From Biggest Importer to Builder

How geopolitics and policy reform turned India's defence industry from importer to builder.

Karan Shah
Karan ShahDeal Manager at Earlyseed Ventures · 5 min read
Sketch of a founder on a road to revenue, comparing an alarm clock labelled top-line investor with an hourglass labelled patient capital

The Right Money: Who Invests Matters

Patient capital, sector-fit investors and the term sheet clauses every founder should read twice.

Monica Gupta · 9 min read
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A term sheet with one line circled: a pool of 20 shares, created before Esha invests. Esha points at it, and beside the house sits an empty chair labelled future caretaker.

ESOP Essentials: A Slice for Farhan

Part 3 of Finance for the Fundraising-Curious. ESOPs, vesting, the cliff, and who really pays for the pool.

Sakshay Upadhyay · 9 min read
Read the post →
A napkin sketch of a cargo ship labelled imports sailing away while a workshop rolls out a drone, a rocket and a radar dish

From Biggest Importer to Builder

India is still the second largest arms importer, yet defence production hit a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in FY26. Here is what changed.

Karan Shah · 5 min read
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The same thirty lakh rupees tied to five different sheets of paper, one for each funding instrument

Same Money, Different Paper: Esha's Options

Part 2 of Finance for the Fundraising-Curious. The same cheque can buy very different things, and the paper matters as much as the valuation.

Sakshay Upadhyay · 12 min read
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A house drawn as a grid of 100 shares, split between four friends

Fundraise Fundamentals: Four Friends

Four friends buy a house. One example explains shares, face value, share premium, and dilution.

Sakshay Upadhyay · 10 min read
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A napkin sketch of a seedling in a pot with a blue price tag reading Rs question mark, surrounded by five sticky notes for the Berkus, Scorecard, VC method, comparable deals and DCF valuation methods.

How to Value a Pre-Revenue Startup in India

The five methods investors use, what actually moves the number, and why you still need a valuation report after angel tax.

Monica Gupta · 9 min read
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A napkin sketch of two slides on easels. A grey slide full of an empty spreadsheet grid is crossed out, and an arrow leads to a blue slide showing a rising story arc with a small founder at its start.

What a Startup Pitch Deck Should Look Like

Most pitch decks don't fail because the business is weak. They fail because the story is missing.

Monica Gupta · 5 min read
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