The Real Art of Raising Capital: It’s Not What You Think
EP 011
Sundays in Bangalore seem to be prime time for first dates
Young readers or anyone in the dating game, back me up on this! Is this true?
I’m writing this from a white-themed café in Indiranagar, Bangalore. You probably know which one - there are about four of them that I have been to, and these all-white aesthetics seem to be in fashion. Makes me wonder, what’s next for café color trends? Something retro making a comeback, or are we going full sci-fi? Would love to know what my architect friends think.
Anyways, that’s not what this post is about.
A venture capitalist’s job has two key elements:
Meeting founders, evaluating ideas, and deciding whether to invest.
Meeting LPs (Limited Partners or investors) and updating them on our deal pipeline and portfolio performance.
I do most of my work from cafés, and for good reason. Offices are boring or monotonous (unless there’s some deep work to be done), and more importantly, cafés offer an unparalleled opportunity for serendipitous networking. I’ve met prospective investors, future employees, and even founders we’ve onboarded - just by being in the right place at the right time, sipping coffee, discussing coffee and Bangalore weather and Bangalore traffic.
Here’s a tip if you ever want to get in touch with me - forget LinkedIn DMs, cold emails, or trying to get my number from some mutual connect. Instead, bump into me at coffee shops, bars, hotel lobbies, or events. Strike a great conversation, and you’re in. How do you figure out where to find me? Well, I think I leave enough breadcrumbs across the internet for those who are curious enough to figure it out.
I’ve been working out of coffee shops in Bangalore for about four years now. I batch my meetings into two or three days a week, and the rest of the time is for deep work in the office. At the end of my physical meetings day usually at a coffee shop (or hop between 2 or 3 of them through the day), I stick around for an hour or two, clearing emails, planning my next day, and just observing.
But sometimes, a workday falls on a Sunday, and that’s when I noticed something interesting.
Sundays in Bangalore are peak first-date territory.
Every Sunday, coffee shops in Bangalore turn into a stage for first dates. I see it happening around me all the time - the nervous energy, the rehearsed stories, the subtle testing of compatibility. And if I eavesdrop just a little (purely for research, of course), it’s easy to tell - it’s the first date.
But why am I talking about dating?
Because a founder’s first meeting with a VC is exactly like a first date.
Just like a first date, a VC-founder meeting is about impressing each other enough to want a second meeting, then a third, and eventually getting into a long-term relationship (or investment agreement). And yes, VCs are also trying to impress founders.
However, I see many founders struggling to raise funds despite putting in a lot of effort - sending cold emails, attending events, and trying to connect with VCs.
Why isn’t it working?
In this post, I want to highlight the crucial preplanning steps that can give you an edge in fundraising and help you craft a solid strategy to raise capital. Everyone talks about how to pitch to VCs, but rarely does anyone discuss how to actually get in front of them - so let me break it down for you.
One fundamental mistake I see repeatedly is founders not doing enough research on VCs before reaching out.
Fundraising isn’t just about pitching to anyone with money - it’s about finding the right investor who aligns with your vision. The pre-planning stage is everything.
A harsh truth: VCs are not here to fund you just because you’re building something. They are not nonprofits; they exist to generate massive returns for their LPs. Fund managers deploy capital with the goal of multiplying it, and the better you understand this, the higher your chances of success.
At an early stage, VCs evaluate two key factors:
The Founder (or Founding Team) – Your skills, drive, and ability to execute.
The Idea – The problem you’re solving and its market potential.
In early-stage startups (Pre-PMF to Series A), the founder carries more weight than the idea itself. As companies grow, this weight shifts toward business fundamentals and traction.
So, before you pitch a VC, ask yourself:
Have You Researched the VC?
What sectors do they invest in? – Every fund has a clear thesis, defining where they invest. If your startup doesn’t fit, pitching them is a waste of time.
Who are their portfolio companies? – Do they already have a competitor in their portfolio? If yes, they might be meeting you just for market intelligence.
What are their partners saying? – Follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter, listen to their podcasts, or attend their talks. They often drop hints about what excites them.
What stage is their fund at? – If they’re early in deployment, they may take riskier bets. If they’re late-stage and struggling, they might play it safe.
Once you have understood these parameters is when you decide to approach the VC (the right way)
The best way? Let your work speak for itself. Build in public, create traction, and let VCs notice you.
The second-best way? Get a warm introduction. A referral from a portfolio founder, an LP, or someone the VC trusts will get you through the door much faster than a cold email.
Cold reach-outs can work, but the effort-to-result ratio is brutal. Instead of blasting DMs to 50 investors, spend that energy strategically networking and finding warm intros.
The next step is your first VC interaction
The goal of an intro message is simple: generate enough interest for a deeper conversation and asking for more details (which is usually a pitch deck). VCs receive countless decks, and many will find ways to avoid asking for one unless they’re genuinely interested.
The goal of a pitch deck is to secure a meeting, not to close the investment. Keep it concise:
What problem are you solving?
What’s your solution?
Who are you, and why are you the right person to solve this?
What traction do you have?
If a VC responds positively, the next step is the pitch.
If they ignore or reject you, this is where your personality comes into play. Ask for feedback, but don’t be pushy. Sometimes, startups don’t clear an initial analyst screening, and the partner never even sees the deck. That’s just how it works. So, there’s no point in sending in 4 follow up mails asking for feedback.
The next meeting is where you have all the leverage - the pitch meeting
Once you’ve got a meeting, make it count.
Keep your pitch 15-20 minutes, leaving the rest for Q&A.
Focus on problem → solution → traction → revenue—not an in-depth product demo. You need not show all the features in your product.
Be engaging, confident, and adaptable.
If the VC declines post-pitch, ask:
Was there something we could have done differently to move the needle for you?
Can we keep in touch for future updates?
Always move on while keeping the door open for future conversations, but move on.
If you’ve come this far, you’re under serious evaluation. But the deal isn’t done yet.
One critical mistake founders make: not having their data room ready.
Your financials, legal docs, and due diligence materials should be prepared before the first serious discussion. If a VC asks for documents and you take weeks to get them ready, you’ve already lost momentum.
The rest of the meetings will follow based on you ticking away various boxes in the evaluation process.
I haven’t gone into the detailed evaluation criteria because there’s already plenty of material online on that (and enough “thought leaders” on LinkedIn talking about it) explaining what makes a startup fundable. You’ll often hear things like:
Large market (TAM, SAM, SOM)
Strong traction, ideally approaching product-market fit (PMF)
A capable team with domain expertise
A clear competitive advantage
All of this matters - but only after you’ve caught a VC’s attention. Until then, the focus should be on getting your foot in the door, being strategic about your approach, and staying persistent.
Remember, the VC-founder relationship isn’t a one-off transaction. It’s a long-term partnership. The best founders are:
Likeable and coachable, but not pushovers.
Confident, but open to feedback.
Strategic in how they approach fundraising.
And remember—just like dating, the best ones don’t chase. They attract.
So, what’s your fundraising strategy?