Most hard-tech companies will need to raise money from investors, so it's crucial to develop a smart fundraising plan that breaks down the total amount needed into smaller, achievable milestones.

Once hard tech founders shift their mindset to focus on quick, cost-effective progress, they often find success in attracting investment.

Hard tech founders must build a financial viability plan and demonstrate they can achieve technical milestones, even on a smaller scale.

A successful strategy for hard tech founders is to present timelines that show how they can achieve results faster and cheaper than traditional companies.

Hard tech founders must break down their problems into manageable steps to demonstrate their ability to take on risks progressively.

Many hard tech founders mistakenly believe they need large amounts of funding upfront, but Y Combinator encourages them to think like software companies and find ways to progress with less money.

Founders should seek investors who regularly invest in startups and respect their time, while also preparing for a longer fundraising process than expected.

Raising money from angel investors and achieving milestones shows your focus on rapid progress, which is favorable when seeking a priced round.

The easiest way to fundraise is to have a good metric that's growing; when I ran a startup that wasn't growing, I spoke to 140 investors and only got two angel checks, but now that I'm working on a growing startup, it took us one week to raise our seed round.