An investor’s guide to surviving the Series A crunch

It’s almost 2013, and many seed-funded companies are hoping the New Year will yield a big, fat Series A check. As we all know, and as the recent report from CBInsights reminded us, there is a “seed cliff” that is showing no signs of letting up.

As a seed-stage and first-round investor at Blumberg Capital, I sit right in the middle of this purported “crunch.” We mostly do seed funding, but about a quarter of our investments start with Series A. We see consistent deal flow coming in for both, and we have a number of companies that are looking for follow-on funding. I am spending much of my time these days helping our seed-funded companies with their fundraising strategy. In light of recent media reports, here’s what I’m telling my startups: Plenty of companies are getting Series A funding, and if you play your cards right, so will you.