Come and think of it, a raw material start is actually a good idea; provided an adequate start location/material-wise. Gives you more to spend on other things.
I got lazy, and just boot up a lazy newb pack or related pre-set, and modify it from there to my liking. But I always invest in a pair of cats, at least a pair of war dogs, and maybe a pair or tribbles bunnies for a consistent meat supply, seeing as cats and bunnies are explosive breeders; and cats keep everything else vermin-free, and are cheap to start with.
But yeah, about raw material starts, just make sure you have plenty of wood to make fuel, and make an axe, then chop more wood, make more fuel, and make some picks (cost is lower if you have magma). You can easily save up a bundle of points to spend on more animals or food/drink, or a set of armor if you want a soldier/hunter at the start as well.
Start off with some sand bags as well (or a bunch of seed bags, make a few farms, and recycle them as sand bags (if you have access to them), and start a glass industry immediately afterwards), and you're off to a great start, if you have access to magma at the start, or are in a heavily forested biome, at least. Alternatively, you can always start an earthenware industry at the start for easy building. This is especially if you want to preserve the underground if you're making aboveground stuff primarily. My first foray into being primarily aboveground is at least looking like this, and it's looking pretty on the surface, preserving the woodlands for wood industry, got easy access to sand and clay for all kinds of industry at my beck and call; and masonry, along with metalworks, although secondary, are better-managed for even prettier AG-structures and such, therefore making for some much prettier creations, and farm ore valuable goods for my citizens and nobles. Just wait until I put them all to work in defenses. What were invasions and sieges again?