HighPath

A cash plan built on one guess isn't a plan. Runway models every scenario and weights each deal by its odds of closing. Create your HighPath account.

If you're planning to borrow in the next six months, your bank's calendar matters more than you think. Last week I wrote that December lending starts with conversations happening now. The natural next question: what does that first conversation look like, and what do you bring to it? On Tuesday, October 27, I'm hosting a free 60-minute session with HighPath, "Planning Your 2027 Capital Stack: Banks, Investors, Grants and Fintechs." Start 2027 in a stronger position to hit your goals. Get tactical advice on lining up every funder that fits your business, starting with your bank this Fall. We'll cover: → When banks lend, and why the October 31 fiscal year-end matters → How to build a relationship with a banker before you need the money → What to bring to a first lender meeting → Where investors, grants and fintech lenders fit around bank financing → How to see which programs and lenders you qualify for Bring your questions. I'll answer as many as I can live. Tuesday, October 27, 12:00 PM ET, on Zoom. Register here 👉 luma.com/ocbwrl6x

Putting together your business plan shouldn't be the hardest part of getting funded. We built Business Plan inside HighPath so it isn't. Every organization starts from a ready-made outline, and AI can draft any section straight from documents you already have. No blank page, no guessing what belongs where. Take a look 👉 highpath.io/product

Most cashflow forecasts aren't wrong because the math is bad. They're wrong because they only run one scenario with one closing date. We built Runway inside HighPath so you don't have to choose between modelling it properly and having the plan ready before the board call. Baseline, growth case, stress test, side by side. Add a deal you're chasing with its real odds of closing, and see the different paths open up based on the decisions you make. Take a look, then DM me if you want a walkthrough. highpath.io/product #Fundraising #Startups #Entrepreneurship

Almost every founder I talk to has a firm opinion on when to raise. Wait until fall. Skip the summer. Get in before year-end. All conviction, no data. So the team at HighPath pulled 1.33 million Canadian funding records — VC deals, banking products, and government grants — to see when capital actually moves. The honest answer: the seasonality founders obsess over mostly lives in the wrong category. VC has some seasonal rhythm, but it's smaller than people assume. The capital that truly runs on a calendar is banking and grants — 34% of federal grant agreements start in April, and banks concentrate approvals around their fiscal year-end. If you're chasing those, the calendar is everything. But if you're raising from investors, here's the finding that matters more: the year beats the month, every time. Q4 2025 was the strongest quarter on record at $3.8B. A few months later, Q1 2026 posted the lowest deal count since 2017. No launch-date strategy overcomes that swing — and a strong cycle forgives an "off-season" raise. Full data's on the blog — worth fifteen minutes before you plan your next round. https://lnkd.in/gCdK_Gz4

78% of Canadian exporters hit by the new tariffs describe themselves as in "wait-and-see" mode. That number scares me more than the tariffs themselves. It's 2020 muscle memory. During COVID, waiting worked — the government built a bridge (CEWS, CEBA, rent subsidies), the money found you, and the old economy was waiting on the other side. This time there is no other side. The trade talks collapsed Friday. And if you read Ottawa's new programs closely, they're telling you something: 2020 offered grants to stay the same. 2026 offers loans to become something else. BDC's flagship product is literally called "Pivot to Grow." That's not a bridge. Nobody in Ottawa is betting on the old status quo coming back — and neither should you. The businesses that accel through this won't be the ones that waited best. They'll be the ones that started building first. Pivoting faster and based off of a data backed plan. I wrote about why the pandemic playbook can't be run again — and what to do instead: highpath.io/blog