The Fundraising Mistake That Founders Make (And How to Avoid It)

Here's what I wish someone had told me as a past 2-time founder:

Your job when fundraising is NOT to convince investors.

Your job is to find investors who are already obsessed with your space and have been waiting for the right company to invest in.

Here's the shift:

BEFORE: Pitched generalists, tried to educate them on my market, spent months trying to get them to "yes."

AFTER: Read investor theses, found VCs who'd written white papers about my industry, pitched partners already hot on my category

The difference? Night and day.

How to do this:

Search "[Your Industry] + VC thesis" on Google
Read firm blog posts - see what they're talking about publicly
Check their portfolio - do they have 3+ companies in your space?
Look for Twitter threads where they're bullish on your category

When you pitch an investor who's already obsessed with your market, you're not selling them on the opportunity. You're showing them YOU'RE the company they've been looking for.

And here's why it matters beyond just time saved:

Venture capital has outperformed the S&P 500 by 3-5x over the last 20 years. The right investor isn't just money—it's network, expertise, and a force multiplier for your business.

Action item for this week:

Find 5 investors who have publicly written about your space in the last 12 months. Read everything they've published. THEN reach out.

Stop cold pitching. Start researching first.

Who here is fundraising right now? Drop your industry below, and I'll share which VCs I know are hot on that space 👇

P.S. - I'm sharing deal insights, fundraising frameworks, and founder lessons like this every week inside Venture Insider. If you're building, you'll want to be here.

4 comments

The AI Academy

skool.com/try-ai-academy

Learn to get paid for knowing AI, no experience required.

Leaderboard (30-day)