Patterns, frameworks, and field-tested guidance from 25 years and 10,000+ pitches reviewed. Written for the founder who'd rather absorb pattern recognition than learn fundraising the expensive way.
The slide-by-slide format that gets first-round founders into the room. Based on 10,000+ pitches reviewed and the two rules every deck must follow.
Read post →How to tell the difference between a founder ready to raise capital and one who is about to waste a year chasing it. The diagnostic question that separates the two.
Read post →Traction is not the same thing as revenue. Seven specific forms of evidence pre-revenue founders can use to prove their hypothesis to investors.
Read post →The line between metrics investors care about and metrics that look impressive but signal nothing. Why retention beats reach in every first-round pitch.
Read post →Enterprise buyers are running better pilots and walking away anyway. What's changed in the AI sale, and what it means for founders trying to close pilots into contracts.
Read post →Why investors are funding teams over features in the current AI cycle. What it means for how first-round founders should pitch.
Read post →The first of the 8 Fits. Investors are silently scoring this before they hear your solution. What it looks like when a founder has done the work versus when they haven't.
Read post →The second of the 8 Fits. The one-customer story test that separates founders with real Solution Fit from founders with a product looking for a problem.
Read post →The third of the 8 Fits. Why "we don't really have competition" is a yellow flag, and what the real competition slide should look like.
Read post →The fourth of the 8 Fits. Four basic questions about how your business makes money. If a price exists only on your slide, investors can spot it in thirty seconds.
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