A pre-money valuation of 1m or 2m would imply that you are selling 33% or 20% of your company respectively in an equity financing. At the level of investment y

A pre-money valuation of 1m or 2m would imply that you are selling 33% or 20% of your company respectively in an equity financing. At the level of investment you are talking about you may want to consider convertible debt rather than equity. Here is a good comparison of the two: http://venturehacks.com/articles/debt-or-equity http://venturehacks.com/articles/debt-or-equity Regarding control, things like board seats are negotiable and will largely depend on the type of investors you raise money from. Lots more on that topic here: http://venturehacks.com/archives#board-of-directors http://venturehacks.com/archives#board-of-directors It sounds like you don't have any customers or revenue at this point. If you can get traction on one or both fronts before approaching investors you will likely increase both your chances of securing investment and your valuation.