Insights
90% of startups seeking VC funding shouldn't be seeking VC funding
The best businesses are built with customer money, not investor money
Most founders confuse fundraising with business building
Full Recap
The Presidio has great views. Our conversation had better perspective. Nine people who've written checks, cashed checks, and figured out when to do which.
A founder who'd just closed a $10M Series A opened with brutal honesty: "I spent two years fundraising for a business I could have bootstrapped in six months." The venture partner who'd led his round laughed. "Yeah, I tell entrepreneurs that. They never listen."
But the gallery owner at our table had a different perspective. She'd built a seven-figure business selling art without a single investor meeting. "Artists understand this. You sell your work to buy materials for more work. Equity is for people who can't make money."
The venture partner shifted uncomfortably. The founder looked intrigued. A documentary filmmaker who'd self-funded her last project nodded vigorously.
"Customer money validates product-market fit," she added. "Investor money validates your PowerPoint skills."
A tech executive who'd sold two companies without ever raising VC jumped in with frameworks. Pre-revenue funding only makes sense if you're building infrastructure that requires massive upfront capital. Software businesses? Service businesses? Creator businesses? Customer money first, investor money later.
By dessert, the Series A founder was questioning his entire growth strategy. The venture partner was rethinking his investment thesis. The gallery owner was explaining how art collectors function as angel investors without realizing it.
The documentary filmmaker was already planning her next project about founders who built better businesses by ignoring Silicon Valley wisdom.
Your Seat at the Table
These insights came from a single conversation. Imagine the opportunities that emerge when you're in the room.
If you're a leader building at the intersection of culture and capital, we invite you to be considered for a future dinner.