Great advice and solid post.
Some data on how long companies typically wait between Seed and Series A rounds. The median is 349 days so raising for 18 months is smart.
https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/days-between-funding-rounds/
A couple of other notes:
- Might want to look at revenue-based financing. More of a debt instrument but if you can't raise or are getting bent over by equity investors, it is an option.
- I wish the funding is required to grow quick meme would die. Our company is revenue funded and growing at a very good clip. If you can make your customers your de facto "investors", life can be very good.