Last month, I talked to 3 founder all raising around $1M at ~$7-8M valuation.

The thing is they don’t have any traction, haven’t reached PMF or any sort of MRR.

And somehow this is becoming a standard valuation for early stage startup, instead of real validation.

Here’s what’s really happening 👇

➡️ Founders don’t want heavy dilution early.

➡️ They copy competitor benchmarks.

➡️ They project future revenue instead of showing present proof.

But valuation at pre-seed isn’t about potential hype — it’s about proof of motion.

If you’re still figuring out PMF or early revenue, it’s smarter to raise smaller ($250K–$400K), join a program, or bootstrap to build momentum.

A high valuation without traction feels great short-term — but it makes your next round much harder.

Your valuation should grow with your traction, not ahead of it.