Trying to scale your startup like Sam Altman?
You're in the right place
Entrepreneurs like Sam Altman and Elon Musk are the models for how to raise capital and scale a startup. But they spent decades of their life cultivating a network of investors, angels, pitch strategies, VC jargon, and investment negotiation tactics.
With our plug-n-play system you can achieve similar results with a budget of just $10s per month.
Think of it as a startup’s fundraising department in a box.
The big mistake people make is pitching investors without relationships, negotiation leverage, or fundraise systems
(Some just pitch investors sporadically and get rejected by them all)
Most founders are designed for scaling products and customers; not for managing a lot of investor relationships. They don't have time to schmooze, manage pipelines and constantly follow up in a way that's useful. It’s extremely overwhelming but you have no choice; pitching and networking with investors is a necessity when playing this game.
So they end up trying to piece together their own process with multiple dead-ends and no central support system to manage their mindset.
Our specialized system puts lessons where it is automatically accessed when you need it. And it creates true FOMO amongst investors when you’re ready to close. Because it's fundamental we’ve used this same system for AI, AR/VR, Crypto, SaaS, and frontier startups to automatically accelerate a fundraise to millions of closed capital.
Without a fundraise acceleration system you'll have a disorganized and chaotic process—causing errors and rejections. And you won't be able to close capital easily from top investors and advisers, like you deserve.
Our system has accelerated 200+ founders and their fundraise operations.
"Don’s support led me to raise an angel round to get my business off the ground!"
Mischa Winkler
CEO, Blob Town
"Don teaches you the tricks of both sides; founders and investors"
Khurram Piro
CEO, Xready Labs Inc
"Weekly meetings with lots to learn and share in ways that are not available in any other forum."
Alexis Salinas Mark
CEO at Osyrys
Introducing the...
Community Based Fundraise Accelerator!
The only community-based and affordable fundraise planning, creation, execution and closing process.
Designed using pre-built templates for maximum speed and success for your startup.
A Video of the system 👇
Watch how we've combined Don’s lessons of raising $10,800,000 from top VC’s, pitch lessons, and founder advising to accelerate your startup and investor fundraise process.
We only use proven and industry standard techniques so that you can be confident that your system will be applicable all the way to IPO.
Hi, I'm Don Stein.
Before building the Ugly Startups Fundraise Accelerator, I personally raised $10.8 Million for my own startups.
Over 11 years, I made investments as a Scout from General Catalyst ($20 Billion Venture Fund), funded startups as Strategic Content at Meta, and was the founder of a startup that launched products which cost us millions to build.
My last startup raised $5.5M from General Catalyst, Spark Capital, Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Gene Munster from Loup Ventures, and more top investors. We grew to a team of 20 building social apps for Apple iOS, Google Android, and Meta Quest, and I was invited to pitch on stage at Techcrunch Disrupt Berlin 2019.
In 2015, when I started my first company. I quickly learned that fundraising and investor relationship management will suck up all of your time and crush your startup without a disciplined system.
So I thought, why not build the system I wish I had? So I applied my fundraise expertise and started building my own system to network, pitch, and close investors.
Over the last few years I've continued to refine it, making it better and better. I went from helping 1 to 100+ founders a week by leveraging group advising.
Now my system has helped 200+ founders, CEOs, pioneers and hackers scale their funding.
The ONLY all-in-one turnkey fundraise system
Accelerate every part of your fundraise process. Investors, pitch, materials, CRM, closing rates, networking, introductions and negotiation. In one place.
Closing Capital
Systemitizing your networking, story telling, pitch preparation and investor pipeline ensures a seamless fundraising process from start to finish. With everything organized and ready before the meet even starts. Checklists, Videos and live weekly mentorship is automatically arranged for your startup; You can focus on pitching and closing.
This streamlined approach not only maximizes efficiency but also enhances the quality of your advisers, allowing you to engage more effectively with your investors. It's like having a personal Head of Fundraising that ensures every urgent detail is handled, so you can concentrate on what truly matters: building iconic startups.
Investor Introductions & Networking
Our fundraise system perfects the way you grow your investor network by acting as a comprehensive investor database and management system that intuitively creates urgency amongst VCs, angels, CVCs, and family offices. Everything is disciplined and tracked orderly behind the scenes, eliminating the risk of funding opportunities slipping through the cracks.
This pipeline organization means that any investor is just a message away, drastically reducing the time and effort needed to wait for investor introductions. Moreover, the ease of tracking and managing your pipeline opens up limitless possibilities for re-meeting and re-pitching, ensuring your network can work harder and stretch further for you.
"In 4 months we closed $1,500,000 of seed funding."
Before using our system
Founder Matt Miesnieks of 6D AI (Acq. Niantic) was pitching around 10 investors per month, unsuccessfully.
After 6 months
he was meeting 30+ investors per month and closing capital from some of the world’s top VC investors - General Catalyst ($15B AUM).
Thanks to our help with his financing, he was able to spend more time building his product.
What You Get
A Disciplined System
Live calls with Don Stein for coaching
Fundraise Program
Step-by-step video guidance to set up your fundraise system. Ready to go messaging and investor templates
12 months support
Weekly Q&A and private online community
Special Guests
Private roundtables to discuss how they raised $10M’s or $100M’s
Our Fundraise Acceleration Process
We've developed a proven 10-milestone process to accelerate your fundraise.
1. After purchase you'll receive an email invitation to our Skool community, and my Calendly. The community provides step-by-step video instruction to close new funding over a few months.
2. The course will walk you through an overview process to understand how the system works.
3. Next you'll develop a personalized plan and set of workflows for your fundraise. We'll help you refine and finalize that plan.
4. After that you can attend our weekly calls whenever you’d like and confirm that you’re on the right track.
5. Beyond that we'll help you further meet and grow your investor network with introductions and mentorships for high-converting pitches and boosting closing probabilities.
Get Personalized Support From Me
Weekly Q&A calls on Zoom
"In 9 months we raised $200,000 from our ideal investor."
Before using our systemCam and his startup were struggling to speak the language of Corporate VC, but they needed both the money and support.
After 9 months
they were able to close $200K in funding, and direct product support from their dream partner. jShortly after their success they leveraged their new mindset to go out and raise even more.
"I would have never imagined that someone would offer so much help for people like me"
Marvin Fachtner
CEO of Xelerate
"Don has managed to collect, introduce, and nurture prominent founders."
Oscar Sandoval
Founder Atemosta
"Don’s network has been an amazing source of support for our growth"
Daniel Landau PhD
CEO of Avris Technologies
"Weekly meetings with lots to learn and share in ways that are not available in any other forum."
Alexis Salinas Mark
CEO at Osyrys
"Don is the real deal and he is truly passionate about his work in this space."
Emily Olman
Adviser to multiple startups
"Thankful for both the wisdom shared and the ability to contribute to this growing community."
Bill Myers
CEO at Think Sky Hopper
"Don knows what us, founders, go through. And. what to tell us to help when it's tough."
Josephine Declerk
CEO of AUR+A
"Don’s experience and expertise speaks volumes."
Ethan Berg
CEO at Agora World
"Don was instrumental in helping us raise our first funding from General Catalyst"
Matt Miesnieks
6D.AI Founder
"Don teaches you the tricks of both sides; founders and investors"
Khurram Piro
CEO, Xready Labs Inc
"Don’s support led me to raise an angel round to get my business off the ground!"
Mischa Winkler
CEO, Blob Town
"Don is an expert and is incredibly well connected in the industry."
Jack Soslow
Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
You could waste YEARS trying to perfect your own system. Or you can...
Get started today and confidently scale your fundraise tomorrow
What time are the weekly Q&A calls?
Every Wednesday @ 11 AM ET.
Can I manage multiple rounds of fundraising?
Yes the system explicitly supports multiple rounds. You do NOT need to close capital and then feel there’s not further value we can offer you. Manage all your questions, intro requests, founder advising, fundraise resources all in one community.
Many of our best members are constantly raising because they already understand the game of venture; startup founders who implement fundraising systems go on to raise the most capital, and create the largest companies.
It can also act as an incredible way to meet top founders who are just like you.
Is this designed for founders and startups?
We have specific support for founders and tech startups. The system supports multiple stages; pre-seed to Series A.. We also make it easy for your investors to make the decision to invest.
It's also easy to apply these same systems throughout all of your fundraises, this works from seed to series A because it’s fundamental.
Taking on more investors and scaling your funding will be easy.
Then you can allocate all that reclaimed time to grow your product, instead of tracking down investor introductions, or emailing your advisers or handling due diligence for your VCs.
Founders are our only members, we love founders. And your investors will love you!
What are the monthly subscription costs?
To start, you only need a "Fundraise Membership" Ugly Startups subscription ($50/month).
We also suggest you purchase LinkedIn Premium if you don’t already have this.
The total cost is ~ $50/month.
As you close more capital, we can take more off of your plate as you scale past the seed stage and into the Series A.
Please talk with us about your specific situation for more accurate answers.
How long does it take to set up the system?
It's a little different for everyone—a couple hours, some a bit longer depending on your company stage. There are 2 core building blocks that you need to enable the core system; a high quality pitch deck, and investor pipeline. The instructions for setting up both are very detailed and helpful, and you can ask all the questions you need in Skool or on the weekly Q&A group calls.
How long will it take to start closing capital?
Pre-seed startups can begin closing capital from angels as soon as possible; since those investors make quick independent decisions. Seed stage or Series A investors need to make FOMO a priority, which requires at least a month or two of proper VC networking. This effort will result in better terms for you as the founder, aka, you will own more of your business, and still raise the same amount of capital.
How does the weekly community habits support your fundraise?
Once you purchase the membership we'll send a request for you to join our Skool, and complete Checkpoint #1: On-Boarding. After you completed on-boarding, and attended your first Q+A, you’ll have everything you need to start accelerating your process. Please make sure you join as many of our weekly fundraise Q+A’s as possible, Don attends every one and is ready to help.
We also invite you to a monthly special guest speaker. In March 2025 we brought Richard White from Fathom AI ($22M raised). In April 2025, Adam Draper from Boost VC ($150M) visited us. You can come to these conversations and directly ask questions to our guest.
Between weekly coaching calls with Don, monthly special guest speakers of the highest caliber, and a founder community of 100’s of supportive CEOs, you’re sure to learn something if you approach each opportunity with an open mind.
If you'd like deeper help with your fundraise, investor networking, and managing your pipeline please reach out to us. We can discuss our 1:1 fundraising package ($20,000 for 3 months of consulting).
What's your refund policy?
Due to the nature of this product we do not offer refunds. Please talk with us and review all relevant testimonials before making the purchase.We are happy to discuss any and all questions you may have about the system and how it will work with your business.
