The #1 Question Every Pre-Seed Founder Gets Wrong
"What's your startup worth?"
If you're raising $100K–$1M, this question determines whether investors take you seriously.
Yet most founders either:
- Overvalue → Investor rolls eyes, deal dies
- Undervalue → You gave away 5% more equity than needed (costing $50K+ later)
The 3 Methods That Work for Pre-Seed
After analyzing 200+ early-stage deals, here are the valuation methods that investors actually respect:
- Berkus Method – Assigns up to $2.5M across 5 milestones (idea, prototype, team, relationships, rollout)
- Scorecard Method – Adjusts industry baseline (e.g., $2M for SaaS) based on your specific strengths/weaknesses
- Risk Factor Summation – Starts at baseline, adjusts ±$200K per category (15 categories total)
The Spreadsheet That Does It For You
I packaged all 3 methods into one Google Sheets template: Pre-Seed Valuation Template
What's inside:
- 5 tabs with 34 pre-built formulas
- Auto-aggregation dashboard with green/yellow/red ranges
- Investor-ready script generator
- Comparable deal database (25 sample transactions)
Copy the template, spend 20 minutes filling it out, and walk into your next pitch with numbers that make you look like you've done this before.
Want it? [Grab the template here] — free to use, no email required.
Built by MicroTools Studio — practical spreadsheet tools for founders and investors.
