Why You Need to Be Having More Conversations

I was speaking to a gentleman the other day who was asking me about the rough average number of meetings it takes to lead to an investment.

I answered and said while there isn’t a direct x = y scenario, the main premise is this:

You need to be having more conversations than you think.

From what we’ve seen, the investor world is very connected.

VC’s have friends, who have friends, who are also investors.

These people like to send good deals to each other, and connect founders with the right firms. Even if it isn’t a direct fit for their company, they’re usually happy to send over people they have good conversations with.

What this means for you as an early-stage founder looking to raise, is that there is one simple way that you can manufacture luck on your side for having your deal fall into the right hands.

Have more conversations.

The single highest leverage activity you can do for your raise is build a strong investor pipeline with good people firms in your sector. Here’s why:

• Momentum is Manufactured:

  • Investors love a hot deal. Building a dense pipeline gives you the ability to say “we’re in conversations with multiple interested groups,” which shifts the power dynamic.

• Pipeline = Options:

  • The more conversations you're having, the less reliant you are on any one investor. That reduces desperation and puts you in control of your raise.

• Market Feedback is Free Clarity:

  • Every “no” or hesitation you hear is a free data point. You’ll get sharper on your pitch, your positioning, and your gaps - and that’s gold.

• Intros Compound:

  • Every investor convo, even if it doesn’t lead to a check, can lead to warm intros. But you only get those if you’re actually having the conversations.

Too many people that we speak to try to be way too cute when it comes to building a proper investor pipeline.

Unless you have a true A+ product and are capitalizing on extreme demand in a market, I would say it is rare to close a full round with less than 15-20 intro meetings with firms. 

More conversations = more luck = better selling process = better market feedback = your life 10x easier.

Hope this helps.

Ryan
Breakout & Apex

If you’re an early-stage tech founder and want to have more conversations setup completely done-for-you, check out Breakout.

If you’re an early-stage healthcare founder and want to have more conversations setup completely done-for-you, check out Apex.