What do founders get wrong about fundraising?

“on automating their inboxes. No fixating on fundraising. Like, fundraising is great and it serves a purpose, but also it is a lot of work. It's really hard and it doesn't define the success of a company. Also, yes, it gives us more opportunities to do more and opens up capabilities and extends runways, but it's like, I think not enough. Founders obsess over revenue and obsess over customer growth and problem. So my recommendation to founders that want to do it is don't think about the fundraiser and then try and create a product or a problem to get there. Find a problem, solve it, and then if fundraising makes sense to you, then do it.”

“Again, part of the reason why we put together the program is the 77 Venture Challenge is because I think for many founders, particularly first-time founders, they have very little understanding of like what fundraising is. And the way they approach it is sort of like, shoot in all directions and try and hopefully, you know, hit a few and be successful. But the main advice is to understand that fundraising actually is a lot more successful if you treat it as a process. If you actually design, you know, or reverse engineer the whole thing, ask yourself how much money you're looking to raise, why you're looking to raise it, how, when do you need to raise it, from whom, put together a list of like potential investors that may be relevant to you, realizing that it's numbers game. If you want to close 3 investors, you'll probably have to reach out to at least 30.”