In this episode of Startup Success, we sit down with Steve Lord, COO and Chief Knowledge Officer at Burkland, for our quarterly update. Steve and Kate talk about how the recent interest rate hikes will affect startups, what's happening in the funding landscape, and why founders planning a 2027 raise should start those conversations sooner.

One big shift Steve is seeing: the AI sector is starting to broaden, and VCs are becoming more interested in AI-adjacent companies like robotics and AI-driven manufacturing. Startups are also continuing to raise larger rounds earlier, with seed rounds that look like yesterday's Series A. Steve warns that taking every dollar a VC offers isn't always smart. Overraising at the wrong valuation can leave founders stuck with flat or down rounds later.

We discuss:

• Why interest rates are likely to keep rising, and how founders can prepare for the impact
• How to tell if extra capital from a VC is worth the trade-off
• Why budgeting for next year should be every founder's top priority this fall
• What the new 2027 SaaS sales and use tax changes mean for your startup

Whether you're raising, budgeting, or just trying to make sense of the headlines, this episode will help you head into the end of 2026 with a clear plan.

Full show notes, transcript, and companion article: https://burklandassociates.com/podcasts/startup-fundraising-and-2027-planning-lessons-from-q3-2026


=== CHAPTERS ===
00:47 --- The Latest on Interest Rates
03:07 --- What Higher Rates Mean for Founders Raising Capital
05:19 --- VCs Turn Their Attention to AI-Adjacent Startups
08:52 --- More Rate Hikes Are Coming
11:47 --- The Upside of Fundraising in a High-Rate Environment
12:49 --- Early-Stage Rounds Are Getting Bigger
14:06 --- The Risk of Overraising at a Low Valuation
17:02 --- Why We Are Seeing So Many Flat and Down Rounds
18:08 --- High Inflation Makes Budgeting Matter More
20:07 --- The 2027 SaaS Sales Tax Change Founders Can’t Ignore

----Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateadams22/

🔗 Learn more about Burkland at: https://burklandassociates.com/

This episode is produced by:

Brenda Hernández Jaimes: Podcast Producer & Talent Coordinator, Ellas Media
Angela R. Chong: Audio Editor & Post-Production Producer, Amplify Podcasts