“I Got 100 Rejections and Raised $850K”: Sergey Bakaev’s Fundraising Playbook — Unicorns Journal

We just published one of the most honest and practical founder interviews we've ever featured in Unicorns Journal.

It’s the story of how Sergey Bakaev, co-founder of LovOn, raised $850K after hearing more than 100 rejections — with no network and no previous fundraising experience.

A brutally honest, step-by-step breakdown of what pre-seed fundraising actually looks like behind the scenes — the pressure, the tactics, the mistakes, and the breakthroughs.

Top takeaways:

• Fundraising = communication density

• 1 warm intro > 1,000 cold emails

• Part-time fundraising doesn’t exist — someone must own it full time

• Start with angels before approaching funds

• Survive 150 “no’s”, and your “yes” becomes inevitable

If you're fundraising (or preparing to fundraise soon), this interview is a must-read — packed with real scripts, tactics, systems, and lessons learned the hard way:

Read the full interview →

If you have a founder story worth sharing — fundraising battles, co-founder search, early traction wins, or lessons from near-failures — we’d love to hear from you.

Email us at editor@unicorns.club and we’ll be happy to create a deep, meaningful interview with you for Unicorns Journal.