Ask a doctor for $4 million and the answer is no, ask for $100K and the round starts: how to set a minimum raise for a seed round

Sunny Ray · Feb 27, 2026 · 5 min read

The size of your ask decides who can say yes. Ask too big and you have filtered out the people most likely to start your round.

On February 4 a physician-founder running a health-tech company laid out her raise for Charles and me. She needed $500K now and probably another $10 million later in the year. She had an invite-only investor meeting with doctors that Saturday morning. And she had already solved the hardest part of setting a minimum raise without realizing it.

I have two decks. One is a 500k deck and one's a 4 million 4 mil deck.

Her instinct was right, and her reasoning was the best explanation of a floor and a ceiling I have heard.

Why the big number kills the first check

Her logic, in her own words: any one doctor who sees $4 million thinks, I can't do that. Ask someone for $4 million on the spot and, if they are a doctor, they are going to say no.

That is the trap with a big headline number. It is not that investors think the company is not worth it. It is that an individual sees the total and does the math against their own wallet. A $4 million round feels like something for funds, not for them. They mentally opt out before you finish the slide.

So her plan was this:

Right. So instead, I want to ask for 100k on the spot. And, oh, if you want to put in more, you can, because we'll take up to 4 million.

And then the line that defines the structure:

Like minimum, the floor is 500k, the ceiling is 4 million. Right now on this round.

She asked us if that was dumb. It was not. On our side the answer was that it is pretty smart.

Momentum is the product of small yeses

The point someone on the call made next is the reason this works:

I think, like, it's all about momentum, right? Like, even small 100k checks or micro victories, we can feed upon and complete the full round.

She saw it the same way: one doctor puts in $100K, the next one thinks, he put in 100K, I'll put in 100K. Social proof inside a room of peers is worth more than any traction slide.

That is what a floor does. It defines the smallest raise that is a real win, so the first few checks feel like progress toward something closable rather than a rounding error on something huge. The ceiling tells larger investors there is room for them.

Same money, opposite signal

Think about how a $500K commitment reads under each structure.

• Against a $4 million target, $500K is 12.5% committed. The round looks like it is struggling.
• Against a $500K floor, $500K means the round is live. Everything after that is upside.

Same money. Opposite signal. Investors read percentages and momentum, not just dollars. A round that has cleared its floor is a round people want to join before it fills.

Her instrument made this easy. She already had a convertible note open, up to $4 million, with a 20% discount and 7% interest. The plan was to convert into a larger priced venture round later in the year, after a few large contracts she expected to land. As she put it, she wanted the $10 million round to happen when investors could clearly see she was blowing it up, at a much higher valuation than she would get today.

That is the second benefit of a small floor. You raise the minimum to hit the milestone, then raise the big round at a price that reflects it.

The same pattern a week later

On February 12 a medical-device founder described almost the same shape: close a $3 million seed, then go for $15 million. His investor base already included six spine surgeons. That told us exactly who to target next: more surgeons and physicians with high incomes, plus family offices, which were showing good traction for us at the time.

Two founders, two specialties, one pattern. Start with the number your natural investors can say yes to. Let the first checks pull in the next ones.

Find the friendly room

The physician-founder's other insight was who to ask. Her doctors understand the product because they work with it. In her words, she was just finding a friendly audience that believes in the product.

On our side the campaign idea was to go wider: doctors at scale, not just in her network, plus former doctors who became founders. That group tends to be wealthier and sometimes already invests in venture.

One honest caution from that call. She raised the question of securities rules herself: reaching out directly as the founder is different from having a third party solicit on your behalf. She was checking with her lawyer before the campaign. You should too. How you are allowed to approach investors depends on where you are and what you are selling.

How to set your floor and ceiling

• Floor: the smallest amount that gets you to your next real milestone. Not comfortable. Real.
• Ceiling: the most you would take on these terms without regretting the dilution.
• First ask: a check size your most natural investors can say yes to on the spot.
• Story: say the round is open with a floor and a ceiling, and report progress against the floor.
• Never inflate commitments. Soft commitments are not legally binding, and investors know it. Report what is signed, and push for soft commits in writing.

Most founders pick one number and defend it. The ones who close pick two and let momentum close the gap. Plan the raise you can close.

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