Most founders walk into a first VC meeting prepared to deliver a pitch. They've rehearsed the problem statement, practiced the demo, memorized the TAM slide. And then the meeting goes sideways—not badly, but differently than expected—because the investor keeps asking tangential questions, going off-script, and not following the deck.
That's not a bad sign. That's the meeting working the way it's supposed to. Here's what's actually happening from our side of the table.
The First Ten Minutes
We read your deck before the meeting. We already know the high-level narrative. The first ten minutes aren't about absorbing information—they're about calibrating how you think and communicate. We're listening for fluency, not memorization. Can you explain the problem without the slides? Can you tell us the story in three sentences and make us want to hear more?
The founders who struggle in these early minutes are usually the ones who are trying to control the meeting too tightly. They want to get through slides 1 through 5 before taking questions. That impulse is understandable but counterproductive. When we interrupt with a question, answer it. We're curious about something. That's good.
What We're Actually Evaluating
There are three things we're genuinely trying to figure out in a first meeting. Not five, not ten. Three.
- Is the problem real and is it really your problem? We want to feel your conviction about why this matters. Not as a market opportunity, but as a genuine thing that's broken. Founders who've lived the problem communicate differently from founders who found it on a market research report.
- Can you build this? Not whether the technology is feasible in theory, but whether you specifically have the capability and the team to do it. This is why we ask about backgrounds, about how you've approached hard technical or operational problems before.
- Do we want to work with you for the next seven to ten years? This is the one founders don't always expect, but it's real. We're not looking for a perfect personality match—we've backed all kinds of people. We are looking for intellectual honesty, self-awareness, and the ability to take and give direct feedback. People who can't handle being challenged are hard to back at the early stage when everything changes constantly.
The Questions That Signal We're Interested
When we start asking detailed questions about specific customer conversations you've had, that's a good sign. It means we're trying to validate the traction signals, not looking for reasons to pass. Same thing when we ask about how you thought about a specific product decision, or how your competitive framing has evolved over time.
Granular questions = engaged interest. Broad questions = we're still trying to figure out whether this is worth our time.
The Questions That Signal We're Worried
If we keep returning to the same concern in different forms, we're not trying to trip you up. We genuinely haven't gotten a satisfying answer and we're trying again. The right response is to acknowledge the concern directly, not to answer a different version of the question you wish we'd asked.
The founders who impress us most are the ones who can say "that's actually a real risk and here's how we're thinking about it" rather than pivoting to a different strength of their company.
What Happens After the Meeting
If we're interested, we'll follow up within 48 hours with specific asks—customer references, financial projections, whatever diligence items came up during the conversation. If we're not, we'll tell you that quickly too. We don't leave founders hanging.
What we won't do is give you vague encouragement and no follow-up action. "Let's stay in touch" from us means we want to track your progress but aren't ready to invest now. It's not a no, but it's not a yes either. We'll say that explicitly.
The Biggest Mistake Founders Make
Trying to talk us out of concerns rather than giving us real information to address them. If our concern is that you're entering a crowded market, don't argue that it's actually less crowded than we think. Give us the specific evidence that changes the picture—the customer segment they've all ignored, the distribution advantage none of them have, the use case where you genuinely win.
We want to be convinced. Make it easy for us.
If you haven't met with us yet, [email protected] is the right place to start. Tell us what you're building in a few sentences. We respond to every email.
