Andreas Klinger (ex-CTO Product Hunt, 100+ investments): "'Come back with more traction' is a soft no, not an invitation to return." 40 minutes of tactics like this on one video
Klinger released a free 40-minute crash course on YouTube — distilled from his own raises, 100+ investments, and 1000+ founders he walked through rounds. Most of it is tactical: the small moves that decide whether a round closes.
VCs evaluate any deal on three vectors: credentials (who you are and what you've already done), innovation (how non-standard the idea or tech itself is), and execution (existing evidence you can pull it off — users, revenue, release tempo). You need to be strong on two of three; understanding which ones you actually stand on lets you set the pace of the round instead of reacting to fund requests.
The line that hits hardest in practice is "We're not fundraising yet, but…". Fundraising behaves a lot like dating — the ones who seem unavailable look more attractive. With the founders I've worked with I've caught the same thing in myself: I showed the strongest interest in startups that openly said they weren't raising right now. That sentence strips the "thirsty" pose and flips the dynamic — if a VC is genuinely bullish, they'll make an offer even without an official round. If they don't, it's not "too early." It's the answer.
If it's not "hell yes," it's "no." A VC who actually wants in will remove obstacles themselves. The one who keeps a founder in "fake homework limbo" (a deck, a financial model, another meeting, another partner) already said no, just politely.
Intro emails should be forwardable by design — written so a person can pass them along without editing. A blurb saying "please forward this pitch" doesn't get forwarded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnYEwONSOMI
Klinger released a free 40-minute crash course on YouTube — distilled from his own raises, 100+ investments, and 1000+ founders he walked through rounds. Most of it is tactical: the small moves that decide whether a round closes.
VCs evaluate any deal on three vectors: credentials (who you are and what you've already done), innovation (how non-standard the idea or tech itself is), and execution (existing evidence you can pull it off — users, revenue, release tempo). You need to be strong on two of three; understanding which ones you actually stand on lets you set the pace of the round instead of reacting to fund requests.
The line that hits hardest in practice is "We're not fundraising yet, but…". Fundraising behaves a lot like dating — the ones who seem unavailable look more attractive. With the founders I've worked with I've caught the same thing in myself: I showed the strongest interest in startups that openly said they weren't raising right now. That sentence strips the "thirsty" pose and flips the dynamic — if a VC is genuinely bullish, they'll make an offer even without an official round. If they don't, it's not "too early." It's the answer.
If it's not "hell yes," it's "no." A VC who actually wants in will remove obstacles themselves. The one who keeps a founder in "fake homework limbo" (a deck, a financial model, another meeting, another partner) already said no, just politely.
Intro emails should be forwardable by design — written so a person can pass them along without editing. A blurb saying "please forward this pitch" doesn't get forwarded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnYEwONSOMI