What I learned about VCs after raising a seed round in Silicon Valley

At Hyperpilot we pitched to many VCs here in Silicon Valley, raised a seed fund from some top tier firms and angels in the valley. We were first time founders, first time raising capital, and it was certainly an eye-opening experience for me. I realize that “The wonderful business of venture” that twenty minute VC described isn’t all that wonderful if you’re on the other side of the table. I’ve now since talked to dozens of founders that raised early funds from VCs and angels, and every one of them share a set of the same frustrations.

Here is the list of summarized problems I see:

1. Hard to understand who invests or works best with early-stage companies in your space
2. VCs language is hard to understand

3. VCs value-add are hard to understand (especially for the early stage)

Let’s go through them one by one:

1. Hard to understand who invests or works best with early-stage companies in your space:

I didn’t realize until I started to fundraise that there are so many VCs in the valley. I knew about the more well-known ones, but after conversations with them, I then realized that most of them don’t focus on investing in early-stage companies. It’s very confusing though that…