This playbook was written and reviewed by a group of 7 founders from YC & Speedrun (A16z), including:

• Benoit Menardo, co-founder (Payflow, YC S21)

• Vinay, Founder (LayerPath, Speedrun 2024)

• Lucia Vives, co-founder (YouShift, YC W25)

• Pablo Bermudez-Canete, co-founder (Paratus Heath, YC W25)

• Efren A Lamolda, co-founder (Mdhub, YC S24)

• Dajana Marsollek, Head of BD (Taktile, YC S20)

• Me, co-founder (Fuell, YC W22)

We don’t have all the answers, but we’ve made many mistakes, learned the hard lessons, and wanted to share what actually helped us along the way.

⛰️ The Foundation

Want to capture serious investor interest? Create a product that solves a burning, urgent problem—and back it up with consistent, compounding growth.

For example, when I launched Fuell, we didn’t have international connections in the VC world. But then, out of nowhere, for example Oliver Samwer’s Team reached out and asked to meet in person in Madrid with Oliver. He offered to invest 200k in our startup that was just getting started. When you strike the right chord, the music plays—and investors show up (even if you are not great). So, don’t confuse outcomes with identity. You’re not bad if it doesn’t work, and you’re not a genius if it does. Stay focused on your key goal: building a product people love and become a little more who you're meant to be each day.

“When a great team meets a lousy market, market wins. When a lousy team meets a great market, market wins. When a great team meets a great market, something special happens” Andy Rachleff

💸 Investors’ Incentives:

Understanding this is key because it reveals the psychology behind investor behavior—which you can then use to your advantage when fundraising.

Paul Graham describes this perfectly “Investors are pinched between two kinds of fear: fear of investing in startups that fizzle, and fear of missing out on startups that take off” If you wait until a startup is obviously a success, it's too late. To get the really high returns, you have to invest in startups when it's still unclear how they'll do. But that, in turn, makes investors nervous they're about to invest in a flop — as indeed they often are.”

What investors would like to do, if they could, is wait. PG’s advice still stands. When a startup is only a few months old, every week that passes gives you significantly more information about them. But if you wait too long, other investors might take the deal away from you. They want the upside without the risk—trying to convince you to save them a spot without ever committing. When an investor says, “I’ll give you $1M if you find a lead,” what they actually mean is “no.” It’s a hedge, not a yes. They’re waiting for someone else to do the hard work of validating you—then they’ll swoop in. As Michael Seibel jokingly puts it: “Imagine a random startup interviews you and says, “If Google and Tesla both offer you a job, come back—I’ll hire you too”. What would you tell them?”

They’ll act like they’re on the verge of investing—right up until they ghost you. If they later hear you're a hot deal, they'll resurface, pretending they were just “busy” and pick up the conversation like they were always in. It’s not indecision—it’s strategy.

👫 Illustrative example: Imagine two potential partners

1. One “wants to marry you”—but only if you become successful and validated by the world. How would they behave? Would you have clarity from them? Would you know what their plans with you are? Probably not. They would be waiting for you to succeed before they commit.

2. The other believes in you as you are. They see your potential before anyone else does. How would they behave? Think of your personal experience. After the first date, they want to stay in touch and meet again (the next day if possible), they ask for your email and phone number, etc.

That’s the difference between an investor who’s just hedging—and one who actually sees you.

Don’t take this literally, even the good investors have decision-making processes. But you will notice genuine interest.

This is why the following is critical tactical advice: collect signals without being pushy. Also, as PG says, if investors are vague or resist answering questions (like “what do you need to commit?”, “what are the following steps on your side"?”), assume the worst.

≄ VC Associates vs Partners

Associates are paid to talk to as many startups as possible—regardless of whether there's real interest. Don’t confuse activity for intent. They’ll take meetings, ask good questions, and follow up... but they’re not the ones writing the checks. Partners make the actual decisions. If a partner takes the meeting, that’s a signal. If not, you’re likely just being screened.

🧠 Do the Homework Before You Fundraise

Too many young founders rush into fundraising like it’s a trophy—dreaming of the Entrepreneur Magazine cover. Expecting millions before proving they can build something people actually want. Newsflash: fundraising is a trade. You’re giving away a chunk of your company for a shot at something bigger. You are not only giving away the potential future value of that stock. Since you’ll likely spend at least the next 7+ years building this, that equity isn’t just ownership—it’s a percentage of your life. Sell 20% of your company? You just sold 1.4 years of your life.

Before you pitch anyone, make sure as many as the following fundamentals are in place:

• People Desperately Want What You're Building: You’ve found a small group of users who need your product—even in its roughest form.

• You Have Early Traction: You’re showing weekly growth in users, revenue, or engagement. Momentum speaks louder than words.

• You're the Right Team: Your background, insight, or obsession makes you uniquely qualified to win. You’ve either quit your jobs—or are ready to. No one wins by half-assing it.

• You're Relentlessly Resourceful: You’ve shown that no matter the obstacle, you find a way forward.

• You’re starting with a small market but can clearly articulate strong hypotheses for how this might evolve into a massive, valuable company.

🚊 How to Build Momentum and Leverage?

If you leave the pacing up to investors, you’ll get dragged into endless delays. The best way to avoid death by ambiguity is SCARCITY and FOMO:

1. The fundraise begins when you do not need money: It’s important to meet investors when you’re not actively raising. That way, the relationship starts from a place of mutual interest, not need — creating a more balanced dynamic. Once the fundraising time comes, investors that you have built strong relationships with might help you spread the word and create FOMO. Plus, they might be ready to invest because they know you as a founder, potentially your team, and what you are up to. Increasing chances of filling up the round fast.

2. Reduce initial target: If you're aiming to raise $1.5M, start by saying you're raising $800k. Once you hit $400k, you’re already over halfway there — signaling momentum and creating urgency for investors to act before the round fills. If you’d said $1.5M from the start, $400k would look like slow progress. Worse, if things stall, it can make you look like you’re struggling. Starting with a lower target doesn’t lock you in. Once you hit it, you can raise the amount and the cap — most successful startups actually do this.

3. Prioritize the investors you're most likely to close (this includes FFF). Once someone commits, get the money in the bank fast. You can leverage this to get more investors onboard.

4. Once an investor commits, ask them to introduce you to other investors they respect. It amplifies credibility and triggers FOMO among their peers. As Paul Graham says: “The biggest component in most investors’ opinion of you is the opinion of other investors. Once momentum starts, it compounds.”

5. Mention you’re meeting with other investors — just keep it natural. Never name names. If they push, say what PG recommends: “You probably wouldn’t want me discussing our conversations with other firms either.” The goal is to create urgency and show momentum.

6. Run a Compressed First Meetings Sprint with as many investors as you can: I often see founders spread meetings over months, they write a few investors every now and then. Don’t. Investors should feel like you're a train that's already in motion — and the time to jump on is now. Make it clear that the process won’t stay open forever. Momentum closes deals. Also, as A16z explains, while some deals move fast due to real market pull — like a well-known team or a hot space — if that’s not your case, be careful. Applying too much pressure or setting artificial deadlines can backfire if investors feel they won’t have enough time to do proper diligence.

7. Profitability is powerful leverage. As Paul Graham says, don’t underestimate the value of being ramen profitable — just making enough to cover your basic expenses. It’s a deceptively strong position. It gives you independence, confidence, and most importantly, leverage. You’re no longer desperate for money, and that changes the power dynamic with investors.

📆 The Timeline:

Typically, it takes 3 to 6 months from initial outreach to having funds in the bank for a Seed Round (Find what works for you, but this is what some of us follow).

📑 Week 1: Prepare Your Materials

Build a clear, clean Virtual Data Room (VDR). Include your deck, cap table, product demo, KPIs if any, etc. Review all materials with experienced founders and investors.

😵‍💫 About the Deck:

Did you used to think investors would spend 15 minutes reading your deck? We did too. Cute, right? In reality, they spend less than a minute on average. We saw this firsthand by tracking how long our decks were actually viewed—and DocSend backs it up (see below). They say it's 2 minutes. Honestly, some probably just leave the tab open while grabbing a coffee. From our experience, you’ve got about 60 seconds of real attention—so every word needs to fight for its life.

Deck Fundamentals: