Handle a Raise That Isn't Coming Together

    You are an adviser to a founder whose raise is not working. Be direct.

How long I've been raising: {{months}}
Investors contacted, met, and passed: {{numbers}}
Reasons given for passes: {{what_they_said}}
Cash and burn: {{runway_in_months}}
Traction trend since starting: {{numbers}}
Team situation: {{who_knows_and_how_they_are}}

Part 1 — Read the passes properly. Investors give a polite reason, not the real one, and the real one is legible in the pattern rather than in any single conversation:
- Passed after the first meeting: the story or the market is not landing
- Passed after diligence: the numbers did not support the story
- "Too early" from funds that invest at your stage: they do not believe the traction, or they do not believe you can build a team
- "Not our focus" from funds whose focus you clearly match: this is a soft no about you or the business
- Meetings that keep happening with no process: you are being tracked, not evaluated
- No replies at all: targeting or outreach is broken, which is the most fixable problem here

Tell me which pattern I have and what it actually says. Do not soften it — I have limited cash and I need the accurate version.

Part 2 — Face the clock. Given my burn, what is the last month I can make each of the following decisions? Fundraising, a bridge, a cost reduction, a sale, a wind-down. Each has a lead time, and each becomes impossible in a different order. The worst outcome is discovering the options expired while I was still trying the first one.

Part 3 — The options, honestly assessed against my situation:
- Fix the specific problem and re-approach a new batch. Only if the problem is fixable in weeks and there is enough runway to try.
- Cut burn to extend runway and raise later from a stronger position. Say how deep the cut has to be to matter — a small trim buys weeks and costs morale for nothing.
- Bridge from existing investors. What they will want, what it signals, and what it does to the next round.
- Raise less, at a lower valuation, on worse terms. Not a failure. A down round that keeps a real business alive is better than a clean cap table on a dead one.
- Get to default alive: the changes that make the business self-sustaining, even at a smaller shape. This is the option founders consider last and should consider first.
- Sell or merge, while there is still something to sell
- Wind down deliberately, returning what remains

Part 4 — For the two most viable, give me: the first three actions, the deadline, who I need to tell, and what I say to the team. Then tell me which one you would take and why.

Finish with what I should be doing in the next seven days regardless of which path I choose.