Q3 2025 w/Carta: What you need to raise a Series A. | Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta

Carta's Peter Walker is back with the freshest data on what's actually happening at the early stage—and it's not what you're reading on X. While headlines scream about record-breaking rounds, the reality on the ground tells a different story. Seed deals are down. Time between rounds is stretching. And there's a brutal divide between the companies getting all the attention and everyone else. We dig into the exact valuations, graduation rates, team sizes and revenue you need for Seed and Series A... plus why the lowest-quartile seed rounds are failing at twice the rate. If you're raising or planning to raise, this is the episode.Why You Should ListenThe round size that cuts your Series A odds in halfWhy smaller teams are winning (and what that means for your hiring plan)The real median valuations at pre-seed, seed, and Series A right nowHow long it actually takes to get from seed to Series A in 2024When taking secondary as a founder makes sense (and when it doesn't)Keywordsstartup podcast, startup podcast for founders, seed round valuation, Series A fundraising, startup fundraising data, venture capital trends, pre-seed funding, startup metrics, founder secondary, seed to Series AChapters:00:00:00 Intro 00:02:46 Seed Valuations and Who Actually Graduates to Series A 00:06:58 What Founders Outside the Hot Cohort Should Do 00:11:44 Team Sizes Are Shrinking and Employees Are Getting Less 00:17:40 Crowded Categories and Competing with Foundation Models 00:24:47 Founders Starting Companies for the Wrong Reasons 00:33:32 When Founder Secondaries Make Sense 00:39:55 The Actual Median Valuations at Pre-Seed Seed and Series ASend me a message to let me know what you think!