Amin Palizban’s Post

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a 1st-time founder who raised a $17M Series A from a16z—in just 14 days. He had $3M cash & didn’t need the money— he cracked the fundraising game: Marty got into YC with a VERY simple product. So simple YC said "it would never work". The product was not remarkable. But Marty and his co-founders were. The 3 of them lived in their office full-time for months. They spoke with 420 potential customers before building code. They spoke 20+ founders before raising money. And they absolutely CRACKED the fundraising game. After YC they raised a $3.2M round from General Catalyst in 6 days. A year later, they raised a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days. They built a deck the night before the pitch. They didn't have a data room. They understood early-stage fundraising isn't about any of that. "It's a social game...you have to be available, but not too available." The booked 40 meetings in 2 weeks with investors. They did it by getting other founders to reach out to VCs. But the subtleties are critical: If a founder says "Pylon is raising a $17M Series A. Here's the deck. Do you want to meet?" You might get a meeting, but you get 0 urgency. If a founder says "I'm good friends with Marty and heard they're raising. Have you met them yet? If not lmk, I can likely get you in." You'll get urgency. I know—it all sounds silly. But in a world where people are constantly looking for the next big thing, they start to assume it must be hard to find, it must be highly desired, it must be "hot". Of course, you need a solid team, a big market, and traction. That's still the 80%. But if you want to raise a big round fast— you need urgency and momentum. Fundraising is a game. So "we were playing the game as best as we could." /// Get the exact playbook from Marty on The Product Market Fit Show. #startups #venturecapital #founders