We're a link shortener called Credhot and our business model is to syndicate (potentially sponsored) content on an interstitial page. We also rev-share with our users based on the number of visits. The biggest hurdle to this strategy has been building an interstitial people want to share with their friends. Here is an example of our latest attempt at that, leading to "coinmarketcap.com": https://crd.ht/H7TLMpn.
Our volume is low enough that we haven't tested syndicating sponsored content on that page. Right now we're mostly focused on "building a product that users love" but at some point we will need to strike a deal with a publisher. When should those conversations start happening? We're currently bootstrapping but will want to raise capital in the next few months as we're growing (we've doubled since the last HN office hours ~34 days ago). Should we wait until after securing funding?