If you can’t get a firm ‘YES’ from an investor in less than 4 weeks, it’s most likely a ‘NO’ [I will not promote]

A lot of investors you meet will want to keep their options open and delay their decision as long as possible by saying things like: - “come back when you have a lead investor” - “we’d love to see a few more months of data” - “can you send over more materials?” - “this is really interesting, let me discuss with my partners” As a founder, you can’t afford to waste time like this. Every minute you spend raising capital is a minute you can’t allocate to grow your business. So there’s a simple framework I like to follow to raise capital efficiently 👇 Path #1 - if you don’t have a term sheet yet: Build a mailing list for all investors you meet that won’t give you a firm ‘Yes’. (Ask them first if they want to be included. Most will say yes.) Focus on growing your business and send them monthly updates. Use these updates to share your progress, your wins, and most importantly, you need to show growth . This will help you build momentum and build a stronger case for your startup next time you meet with these investors. Investors want to invest in winners. Show them you can win. Path #2 - if you have some term sheets (ideally 2-3) If you are part of the lucky few and have 2-3 term sheets on the table, don’t waste any time. You want to build urgency to get investors moving. Email all investors you’ve recently met and give them a deadline. Something along the lines of: Hey [investor], We have [2-3] term sheets under consideration and we will be closing the round in the next 14 days. I’d like to have you on board. Please let me know if we can make this happen. Below is a quick recap of where we’re at and the terms we’re looking for on this round: - [share some bullet points on progress/metrics] - [list terms of the round]​ Best, [Your Name] Time kills all deals. The longer a negotiation or transaction takes to close, the more likely it is to fall apart. A concrete deadline gets you a definitive answer. Move fast. Always. ​