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What Startup Founders Get Wrong When Raising Money (and How to Fix It)

Andy Budd
The Design VC
Published in
6 min readDec 4, 2024

As a Venture Partner at a VC fund, I’ve reviewed hundreds of pitch decks in my time. In fact most funds will receive thousands of decks a year, with only a small fraction leading to conversations and even fewer resulting in investments. With those kinds of odds, your pitch deck needs to be exceptional — think 8 or 9 out of 10 — to stand out.

One of the most common mistakes I see founders make is sending through pitch decks that fail to answer the basic questions VCs are looking to address. I’ve written before about what makes a great pitch deck, so I won’t dwell on it here, but this is often just the start of where things can go wrong. Beyond pitch decks, there are several common missteps I see time and time again-issues that can derail even the most promising startups. Let’s unpack some of the most common pitfalls and, more importantly, how to avoid them.

1. Spending Too Much Time Fundraising

When founders send me their pitch decks, one of my first questions is: “Where are you in the process?” I want to know when they started raising, how many investors they’ve spoken to, and how those conversations are progressing. These answers often tell me a lot about their approach-and whether they’ve underestimated how much focus and momentum a good fundraise…

The Design VC
The Design VC

Published in The Design VC

This publication is all about looking at the early stage startup journey from a design and product perspective. It’s written by Andy Budd, a former designer turned VC, and author of The Growth Equation.

Andy Budd
Andy Budd

Written by Andy Budd

Design Founder turned investor, advisor and leadership coach. Author of The Growth Equation. @Seedcamp Venture Partner. Formerly @Clearleft @LDConf & @UXLondon.

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