Tips for Navigating the VC Funding Process

I’ve raised two funding rounds - $1M in our first, and most recently $3.6M at a ~$20M post-money valuation. Here’s what nobody tells you about fundraising (that I wish I knew before starting). How to run the process: 1. Warm intros >> everything else: Cold emails and LinkedIn DMs rarely work. Try to get intros from portfolio founders of the VCs you’re targeting. 2. Batch your meetings back-to-back: Don't fundraise in drips - it kills your leverage. Hit the market hard over 2-3 weeks with tightly clustered meetings. Investors want deals that other investors want. Without urgency, it usually makes sense for them to just wait & watch. 3. Start small: Begin with angels to perfect your pitch and get early commits. Then move to smaller funds for practice before approaching your target lead investors. This builds confidence and helps you refine your story with lower stakes. 4. Set a hard deadline: Announce upfront- “We’re closing this round by [date] and moving on.” This forces decisions and prevents endless diligence cycles. Investors respect founders who control their process. Remember these points: - Associate outreach ≠ real interest: Associates reaching out on LinkedIn is normal - they’re doing their job (meeting lots of founders). Don’t mistake it for serious interest or momentum. - Time commitment is brutal & it's a huge distraction: Budget 3-6 months of full-time CEO attention. From first meetings to signed docs and wired funds, it's a complete distraction from building. The quicker you finish and get back to work, the better. - The only hard part is finding the lead: You'll hear "we'd love to participate once you find a lead" for weeks - it means nothing. Close your lead investor and suddenly everyone who was "interested" wants in immediately. Your round goes from hard to close to oversubscribed in 48 hours. Final thoughts: Run a tight, time-boxed process. Get warm intros, batch your meetings, set a deadline, and focus entirely on finding your lead. Everything else is noise until that lead commits.

Time kills fundraising deals. A founder lost $500k by taking one week to create a financial model. I avoided this with my 3-step process 👇🏾 When raising VC, momentum is everything. The founder who lost out on that $500k check was asked for a financial model. Because they didn’t properly prepare, they had to take a week to make it from scratch. By the time they sent it over, the investor had moved on. Avoid this mistake by breaking your raise into three steps: pre-fundraising, fundraising, and maintaining. PRE-FUNDRAISING (6+ months before): People think fundraising is all about non-step investor meetings. They ignore the prep work. During this stage, you should: - Build your target investor list and connect the dots for warm intro requests - Prepare ALL docs (pitch deck, financial model, market calculations) - Draft email templates (forwardable emails, follow-ups) FUNDRAISING (2-3 months): In this phase, you’re: - Taking 4-5 investor meetings a day - Pitching and tweaking your deck weekly - Following up with investors (up to 3 times, then move on) - Responding to requests from investors in due diligence - Closing the round If you've done pre-fundraising right, you spend 100% of your energy on meetings and relationship-building, not scrambling to create documents. MAINTENANCE (ongoing): Traditional advice tells you always to be raising, but that’s wrong. Maintain relationships with investors with a system: - Send monthly investor updates - Schedule quarterly check-ins with high-priority investors Can you raise VC without this process? Of course! Can you raise VC without ANY process? Probably not. Before you raise venture capital, create a plan. Once you have a plan, see it through until the money is in the bank 💰.

I've sat on both sides of the table. I've raised. I've invested. Here are the hard truths I wish someone had told me when I was fundraising. The ones most VCs won't say to your face. 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆" 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲. It's about conviction. If we believed, we'd find a way. Stage is the polite version of "we don't see it." 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱. The ones who lead move fast. They forward your deck within hours. They ask for a second meeting before the first one ends. Silence is a no with extra steps. 𝟯. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. I've passed on beautiful decks and backed founders whose decks were a mess. The deck gets you the meeting. The founder gets the check. 𝟰. 𝗩𝗖𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀. Every fact you share gets filtered through a pattern in our heads. The best founders break the pattern in the first 5 minutes. On purpose. 𝟱. "𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱" 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗼. It's the most expensive no in venture because it costs you hope. Treat it as a pass. If they change their mind, they'll call you. They won't. 𝟲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀. They answer hard questions directly. They know what they don't know. They've thought about second-order risks before you asked. 𝟳. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿. The GP you're meeting has to pitch the partnership. If you don't help them sell it internally, they carry your round uphill alone. 𝟴. 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Pipeline. Sequencing. Momentum. The founders who run it that way close. The ones who treat each meeting as an audition burn out by week six. 𝟵. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂. We say "stage." We mean "conviction." We say "market size." We mean "I don't believe you specifically can build this." The signal is in what we ask, not what we say after. 𝟭𝟬. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Not rejection. Information. They ask. They iterate. They come back six months later sharper. We're a single, biased, often wrong vote on one specific founder, on one specific day, with one specific pattern in our heads. Treat us accordingly. Build the company for yourself and your customers, not for VCs. #Founders #Fundraising #VentureCapital #StartupAdvice #PamirVentures

Fall fundraising season is about to start. Over the last 6+ years, I’ve worked with 300+ startups as they’ve raised $1B+ in follow-on funding. Doing the basics really well can make all the difference and make the process suck a little less: → Do Your Research. Instead of reaching out to every “top tier” fund, take the time to identify the ones that are the strongest fit for your company. Dive into firms’ theses and what individual investors are writing and sharing. → Run Your Fundraise Like A Sales Process. That means setting up a CRM, building a target list, preparing materials ahead of time, and time-blocking 2–3 weeks for first meetings. → Tier Your Investor List. Don’t lead with your top-choice funds. Use the first few meetings (after plenty of pitch practice) to test your narrative. Pay attention to where investors lean in, push back, or ask questions. Fundraising is a continuous, iterative process → Activate Your Network. Share your target list with current investors, angels, advisors, and founder friends. You’ll be surprised how many warm introductions you can get through your immediate network. Work these connections! → Get Clear About Your Pipeline. Don’t chase and waste time following-up investors who don’t want to invest. Active investors will lean in, ask questions, respond quickly, set up next steps. If they’re not, they’re out. → Re-Engage With Momentum. Every big customer win, strategic hire, or new VC commitment is a reason to update your nurture list. Momentum gets people off the fence. Happy fundriaisng!! What other tips would you add? 🫶🏽💜

After reviewing thousands of pitches as a VC and helping hundreds of founders raise capital, I've noticed a clear pattern in why most fundraising efforts fail. Want to know the hard truth? Most founders are obsessed with nailing the pitch instead of nailing the relationship-building process. At Flowlie Technologies, we're seeing hundreds of raises each quarter, and it is fascinating to speak with those founders and learn more about how they approach it. The difference between those who succeed and those who struggle isn't about having better slides or a more compelling intro story. It's about mastering the relationship loop. Here's the four-step process our most successful clients use: 1️⃣ Get the right introduction. The top-performing founders don't ask, "How can we reach out to more investors?" They ask, "Who in my network can introduce me to someone interested in what we're building?" We've seen meeting conversion rates go from low single digits to over 50% by focusing primarily on warm introductions. 2️⃣ Build a relationship before pitching. I've sat through over 2,000 pitches as a VC investor, and I can tell you: founders who spend the first part of the meeting learning about us, the fund, and asking thoughtful questions about why they should choose us to invest stood out immediately. The ones who launched straight into slides? Mostly forgotten. 3️⃣ The game-changer: be excellent during AND after meetings. We strongly advise our clients to send thoughtful follow-ups with answers to the questions that couldn't be answered during the call. This ensures any lingering concerns are addressed before that investor goes into their partner's meeting. You're giving them ammunition to fight for you. 4️⃣ Make the ask when the relationship is ready. We see significant increases in successful fundraising outcomes when founders clearly articulate next steps rather than ending with "let me know what you think." You should be driving the process and ensure you are building up towards an investment ask. The ones who rush into it typically get rejected. From both sides of the table, I can confirm that successful founders don't raise money, they build relationships. This shift changes everything about how you approach investors. What relationship-building tactic has worked best in your fundraising journey?

I've helped dozens of startups raise capital. Here's the most important thing I've learned: Fundraising isn’t about your pitch. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. Want to show VCs you can run your startup? Your first chance: running a tight fundraising process. That means you... - Prepare intelligently. - Follow up quickly. - Negotiate wisely. Think about the fundraising funnel holistically. Want to set yourself apart at every step? Here's my top tip for every stage of the journey: 1️⃣ PREPARE: Narrative first, pitch second. Your narrative = what you want to say 📓 Your pitch = how you say it 🗣️ A great narrative clearly communicates: → What your startup is → Strategic milestones for the next round → You have the right tactics to achieve them → You have great odds of executing them successfully Substance beats style every time. Get your narrative right, and the pitch becomes easy. 2️⃣ TARGET: Stop “spray & pray” outreach. Instead, ask yourself: “Which investors would already love my startup?” The answer: Investors who've previously backed startups similar to yours—same market, same business model, same GTM, same stage (but not competitors). ✅ Do this: Find investors from similar startups. ❌ Not this: Cold-emai every VC. Result? More meetings, less wasted effort, and closing capital quicker. 3️⃣ OUTREACH: You don’t need warm intros (seriously!) Investors WANT great deals. Your job is simple: Show them why you’re a compelling opportunity. 4 Pillars of a Killer Investor Email: • Brevity • Personalization • Relevance • Momentum Use them all and you'll book investor meetings without a warm intro. 4️⃣ PITCH: Investors don’t care about your goals. They care if you’ll hit them. Use the GAP Framework in every pitch: → Goals: where you’re headed → Accomplishments: what you've already achieved → Plan: exactly how you'll achieve your goals Balancing GAP demonstrates ambition and credibility. (Bonus tip: send follow up emails after 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 meeting with action items, document requests, etc. Create a checklist so you never drop the ball. Seems simple, but sets you apart.) 5️⃣ DILIGENCE: Answer the tough questions BEFORE they're asked. To win in diligence, anticipate investors’ questions ahead of time: "What do investors need to believe to fund my startup?" "How can I prove it?" Back every answer with data or trusted third-party validation. (Not just your opinion.) Be ready for anything they throw at you. 6️⃣ CLOSE: Act like a partner, not a negotiator. Many founders blow deals by negotiating like it’s a zero-sum game. Instead, frame every conversation as a win-win partnership. Align incentives faster, close faster... and get better terms. Just remember: fundraising is a funnel. Nail the process, and the money will follow. __ Was this helpful? 👍 like and ♻️ repost it to help other founders! Want help raising capital for your startup? DM me 📥 "RAISE CAPITAL" to see if I can help.

It’s surprising how much information is available about the B2B sales process and how decision-making works inside a buying organization, but very little is explained about the fundraising process and how VCs actually think and make decisions internally. Hint - your deck is probably only 20% of success. 1) You are not going to get an investment from a VC if you don’t have a champion on the other side. Someone on the investment team needs to promote you internally, especially during the investment committees, and become your biggest fan on the inside. It works exactly like in B2B enterprise sales, so you need to follow pretty much the same process with VCs. 2) One of the popular myths among founders is that you need to talk only to partners to increase your chances of success; this is often not true, because in many cases there is a very hungry associate or principal who wants to get a deal done, and he/she will go to all lengths in order to make it, putting much more effort and energy than a partner sometimes would. Don’t target partners only, target the right people who get what you do and believe in what you believe. 3) Therefore, try to keep at least a 50/50 ratio in terms of speaking time on your first calls with the VC - make it a conversation, not a pitch. Remember - you are not selling something in the first place, you are looking for your fan and supporter on the inside, who you might end up working with for the next 5-10 years. Don’t waste your time on transactional pitching if you don’t want to lose his or her attention in the first 3 minutes. 4) And lastly, often the ultimate decision whether to invest in your company or not depends on the current active pipeline of a VC, and how many attractive deals are there at a given time, supported by excited champions. You might be lucky and get there at a very right time when you don’t have a lot of competition, or vice versa; although you run a great and investable company, you might face strong competition inside a particular VC on a given week. Honestly, this part was unclear to me until I got on the VC side. So in any case, don’t give up, be persistent, send regular investor updates (please!) and you’ll get into the right opportunity window sooner or later.

Most founders show up to a VC pitch thinking they're selling. They're not. They pitch features, traction, roadmaps. Investors seek one thing: trust. “Investors fund trust, not startups, not plans, not products.” I've raised $100M+, built 3 companies, and mentored 100+ founders through dozens of rounds. The deck changes. The market pivots. The only constant is the founder. Funding is a trust-building exercise. A leadership audition, not a product demo. Five moves that change everything: If your conviction is stronger than the investor's doubts, you're fundable. Start with a mission statement: “We exist to…” Then sit silent for two seconds. Silence reveals confidence. Lead with traction that proves your core assumption. Name the assumption. Name the metric proving it. “By day 30, we’ll know X because we ran Y.” Fundability is a quality of the founder, not the startup. State it: “I've founded X companies, iterated Y times, survived Z failures.” Exact numbers, not adjectives. Offer a partnership based on trust, not a transaction. Say: “I'm offering X% because I need a partner who trusts me to build this.” Equity is the trust contract, not the price. Use the Crunch Script. When three VCs show ~50% interest, call that same day: “I respect your process and I value transparency, this deal may close in 10 days.” Urgency is a child of demand. Do this and you stop raising for an idea. You start raising because people trust you can find one. You're the prize. They need you more than you need them. Own the room. Build the trust. Close the round.

When I raised funds for my startup, the biggest advise I was given was to choose funds that are "founder-first". I think the true gravitas of this term sunk in when I became a VC myself. Imagine interacting with someone you barely know, for just 3 months, and then signing up to spend the next 10+ years of your life together, along with 50+ page documents which list out legal, financial (and emotional) consequences. No wonder it's the most important decision for a founder. In an ideal journey, a founder and investor’s interests are truly converged. But there may come a time when what is perceived to be best for the company and its stakeholders is different from what is in the interest of the founder. The challenge is that a VC sits at the precipice of managing external capital and supporting a founder, which means sometimes, despite the best of intentions, not being able to compromise on critical pillars of capital protection. So how do you start building the foundation of trust: 𝙵̲𝚘̲𝚛̲ ̲𝙵̲𝚘̲𝚞̲𝚗̲𝚍̲𝚎̲𝚛̲𝚜̲: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: If you're planning to raise money in the coming few months, start having agenda-less conversations with your target investors and then keep them updated on your journey. Every interaction matters towards building trust. 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: Speak to other founders, do your own due diligence and ask questions like - how has the investor behaved during times of distress, exits; how does the investor take feedback 𝙵̲𝚘̲𝚛̲ ̲𝙸̲𝚗̲𝚟̲𝚎̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚜̲: 𝗚𝗲𝘁 “𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱” (𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳) 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺: Know that you are very much walking behind a founder, not in front. So know when to step in and be at their side, and when to get out of their way (much like a healthy marriage!) 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: The key word here is "always". This requires relinquishing control, showing up to meetings with an open mind, remaining positive. Build this philosophy (to the extent possible) in founder employment agreements that ensure the founder is comfortable and not financially under distress - this includes being sensitive about founder salary needs, vesting, and buyback. 𝗕𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱: Show the mirror, be a thought partner. Align with the founder on the long term strategy (and let them lead it), but also look out for short term distractions or fake signals that could be perilous. The founder’s journey is no doubt harder than an investor's. But ultimately, if there is one thing I have learnt in my VC journey is that this is a gut-driven business. Most times, both parties intuitively like each other and the vibe simply checks out. The kind of founder that one VC likes will be different from others, and that’s okay. Ultimately, in the investor-founder marriage, choose your spouse wisely and trust that one can help achieve the other’s dreams.