There was a seed investment in my startup. The seed investor tends to run the idea on third parties and get an experience in pitching/negotiating while searching for an angel investment. Even if the outcome is negative the experience might give us feedback on the idea itself. It's a first startup for both of us. The reason not to do it - distraction of valuable time on preparation with lower probability to get financing and falling behind the schedule for round A.
Raising money is a choice, if you can self funded until the concept is proven and you start getting traction, don't give up equity early on. In any round, you give up a piece of the pie, the longer you are able to self fund, the better the end result for you.
You will be in strong position if you are able to stay out of asking for funding early on, but remember you need to have a good hold of the market and your numbers to understand when
My personal rule is... I only start businesses that self fund easily.
If I can turn an idea into a first sale, by end of day, I figure the idea is of little value.
If you can turn ideas into profit rapidly, with zero investment, then your business will succeed well.
You might find it good to hire someone to walk through your business with you + figure out how to simply refine your current business model to produce high profits.
This will instantly fund your business, so you can stop pitching + start profiting.
Do a bridge round only if you need the funds for critical operations. If you can postpone it or manage till A then avoid it, so that you get best valuation and retain more equity.
