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Why Most Startup Fundraising Fails
Great ideas don’t die from rejection — they fade in pipelines that were broken from the start.
It starts the same way every time. And this morning, Paul was no exception.
A founder, brimming with confidence, telling me:
“We’ve built something investors must love. It’s brilliant. It’s fast. It’s efficient. A true game-changing technology.”
He paused, waiting for validation.
Instead, I played my usual role — the critical friend. I knew he wouldn’t love the twist.
So I asked the one question that usually silences the room:
“Who actually needs it right now, can write a check, and has the pressure to move fast?”
Paul froze. His smile faded. Eyes wide, mouth half-open — he didn’t need to speak. I could already hear what he wanted to say:
“How dare you question what we built — two years of sweat, in a garage, like MacGyver, armed with a pen, a whiteboard, and 4 a.m. coffee.”
They built the tech. But they never asked the hard questions every investor-savvy mind asks before breakfast:
- What problem does this solve?
- Who feels it right now?
