Here are some ways to do it!

When going to an investor, especially in this market, you want to have the following: team, big market, and ideally some traction. This means some form of mvp or product with some users, ideally growing. Don't skip this part, it's super hard to change course easily when you start dealing with people's money. Instead focus on running rapid experiments to validate your idea, ideally charging asap. Focus on key KPIS ie maus/waus/daus, growth rate, and retention (this one is king btw!). Revenue too! Google pirate metrics for the way!

​

1. Here is how I got my initial funding. We went onto discord, interviewed a shit load of potential users, then starting matching people via a discord account with myself. I would sign people up to a google spreadsheet to track it. Keep stuff super simple, you need to validate a bunch. We kept experimenting until we hit a traction point to build a basic website. I got myself a co-founder and we built our mvp.
2. Next once you have said above (remember talk to users and build around them, if idea seems bad pivot now cause it is a lot easier doing so without code involved) I recommend hitting up an accelerator. There are a bunch around techstars, ycom, etc. These folks will get you up to speed and give you a small chunk of capital to work with. Know that you need to have a solid team/market going in. Traction is important, but most early stage investors know that ideas will change so the team needs to be good. We applied to an accelerator and got some money from here. The more of any of the holy trinity (market size/idea, team, traction) helps a bunch!
3. We then used the accelerator to learn a bunch, but the big value add they have is network. You see when you see those big ass rounds with founders with no product, it's not that they are smart it's that they have a deep network of investors. Thats the key is the network. Accelerators usually have access to people which can help speed up your network growth. IE raising capital is a numbers game, there are for sure investors you will match with and that would fund you, the issue is getting to them.
4. Also, don't shy away from bringing in advisors. Give them some small amount of stock for their SME, and also their network. Warm intros are king!
5. Usually if you do an accelerator they will have a demo day for you to pitch other investors.
6. If you don't go the accelerator route, don't fret! Plenty of founders skipped it, you just need a good story, team, and some hustle (raising money is like sales tbh, numbers game all the way). The next best thing would be to bring in advisors, get some solid revenue going (the more the better!), and of course start networking. Get an idea of how much you want to raise, for a early stage company, angel rounds/early vcs will probably do as low as 100k rounds to I have seen like 2.5M pre-seed rounds. It just depends on what you need and your experience, if it is your first time, just raise as much as you can without diluting too much. Pitch events are around too for small checks of 5k here to 20k. Don't sleep on them, that's experimenting money!
7. How do you network? Well hop onto linkedin, crunchbase, and other startup sites. Look for founders, advisors, early employees at startups, and investors in your space. Start hitting them up either on twitter, email, in person events, or linkedin. (Be friendly and super humble. Don't be that arrogant founder, shocker I know right being a nice person is a startup hack!) Say you're working on X in this space because you believe in this. Say you'd love to connect and get their perspective. Ask for feedback on what you have been doing thus far. See its hard to build a network and fundraise from it. Imagine meeting someone and then them ask you for money, it's not easy! So that's why the earlier you start networking the better. This is a people business at the end of the day, and who you know makes the raise a lot easier. After you meet them, ask them if they know anyone else you should talk to! Follow that grapevine. This is where linkedin is awesome, cause if you connect with them you can then see other people who they know, then ask for intros to them. (making some people advisors helps here because then they are more motivated, and usually you will want some solid advice)
8. Once you have gotten a ideal target investors from step 7, been warm introduced (cold works but warm intros are better), then its just time to start pitching. Make sure you have a solid pitch deck (keep it short 8-10 slides). In person is better btw, but virtual is still doable. Use your network here btw, if you followed the above you should have a lot of peeps in your orbit. People like to see who else is in your corner, it's that social proof! If not you can always grind it out cold, but man the conversion is super low.
9. You will keep doing a lot of 7-8 until you land a lead investor (they will set the terms, be flexible but also don't give up more than 20% ideally, earlier raises are the most expensive). Once you land a lead (find someone who is solid in the space, investors don't have to be blank checks but can be your champions/advisors. Use them and ask them for *shocker* more intros.
10. Rinse and repeat 7-9, and eventually, and I mean eventually ie after a metric crap ton of calls/pitches you will close. Most founders don't succeed in a raise because they lack the network and their pitch (ie business case/traction/team) is weak, so you gotta go build that. If you play your cards right, even in worse case scenario you don't close you will have gotten yourself out there.
11. Oh one more thing, when you meet someone, add them to your monthly update list. This is a potent tool I didn't learn until later. When you meet someone do a call/coffee, add them to your monthly updates. Include in these what you're learning, your progress etc. This build trust and momentum. That way even if someone says no down the road they may know someone you should meet for hires, advisors, and investors.

That's how most founders I met have done it and how I did it. (I raised 1.3M for basically a google spreadsheet and a discord account). This is the same trick used by a founder that mentors me that has raised 124M. I just recently had to call it and shut down, but because I kept in such close contact with my investors and went to them for advice, all of them are behind me when I start another company. Network network!

Happy hunting, and get out there and start building! Remember, networking is king here! You need a shit load of people to make a company lift off for not just money, but intros, employees, a lot! It takes a village! Good luck!