Why 98% of Pitches Land on Deaf Ears
First-time founders often walk into a pitch thinking they are there to convince someone. Investors walk in trying to understand whether this deal fits their investment thesis.
That mismatch explains why so many “good” pitches stall.
Good pitches stall because they do not match what an investor is actually looking for. Founders are focused on telling the story of their company, while investors are listening for signals of fit. Those are not the same thing.
An investment thesis is opaque. You may see a thesis stated on a website and a portfolio that appears to support it, but that does not give you the lens to understand why that portfolio fits together. You do not see the internal logic, the risks that were acceptable, or the constraints that mattered most in those decisions. As a founder, you are pitching into a framework you cannot fully see.
At the same time, founders are asked to do something nearly impossible. They are expected to pitch in a way that piques interest while also listening carefully to what an investor says is important to them. Unfortunately, it is hard to keep your mouth and your ears open at the same time.
So most pitches fall flat. Not because of you, and not because of your deal, but because the meeting was never meant to work the way founders expect it to.
When we say that raising capital is relationship building, we do not mean it is transactional. It is not about getting the best price for the lowest risk in a single meeting. It is about understanding whether you fit an investor’s thesis and then helping them see why your deal fits, if it fits.
Instead of trying to convince an investor that you belong in their portfolio in the first meeting, the goal should be to discover what their thesis actually is and decide whether they are worth pursuing.
A good discovery call does not need an hour. It can wrap up in 20 minutes with something far more valuable than a yes or no.
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