Your investment contract is the most important part of your fundraise.  If you choose the wrong contract, or have bad terms, no one will invest, and you will have wasted a lot of time.  It's like trying to sell a dozen eggs for $100. People are not stupid. 

We recommend using Wefunder after a Lead Investor has invested $25,000+.  This makes it far more likely you chose the right investment terms.  

That said, we know in some parts of the country, there are just not many angel investors who invest in early stage companies. So we'll try to help figure out what are good terms if that's the case.

The right terms are very specific to your company, but here's some general advice for two kinds of companies that are more unlikely to have prior investors:

• For an early stage technology startup that has as a reasonable chance of getting funded by venture capitalists, we recommend either a convertible note or a SAFE.  Valuation caps for early-stage technology startups with no prior investors can range from $2 million to $5 million.  It's possible for the very best early-stage startup (such as a Y Combinator startup) to raise at closer to a $12 million valuation cap.  However, if that's the case, then you will be in a position to have at least one prior professional investor who set the terms.  
  
  
• For an early stage brick and mortar with expected cash flow, we recommend a revenue share contract.  We recommend setting the terms of the contract to give at least a 2X return multiple. Then, make a spreadsheet of all your projected cash flows for the coming 6 years.  We recommend choosing the percent of revenue to share that would give investors a predicted 10%+ annual return.

Note that Wefunder's advice and/or approval of a Lead Investor or investment terms does not constitute an endorsement or a recommendation to invest.