How to talk to investors

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What do investors want to hear?
Read time 2.0 minutes.

Let’s get one thing straight: investors don’t care about your budget.

Founders love to walk into a pitch and proudly explain how they’ll use the money:
“Half for product, a third for marketing, the rest for ops.”

Sounds responsible, right? It’s not. Because investors aren’t funding how you spend — they’re funding how you scale.

Here’s what they actually want to hear:
“This $1.5M round takes us from $100K ARR to $1.2M ARR in 12 months — putting us in position for a Series A at 2.5x our current valuation.”

That’s the answer that flips a polite smile into a yes.

Why? Because every investor’s inner dialogue is the same: “If I give you this money, how will you make my shares worth more?”

Your job is to answer that question with precision.

So next time you talk about your raise, forget the spending breakdown. Use this simple 3-step formula instead:

1. State the amount. (“We’re raising $1.5M.”)

2. Define the milestone. (“It gets us from $100K to $1.2M ARR.”)

3. Connect it to the next round. (“That unlocks Series A at 2.5x our current valuation.”)

That’s it. That’s the game.

VCs don’t fund budgets — they fund momentum, milestones, and valuation growth.

So stop pitching like a bookkeeper. Start pitching like a builder.

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Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill

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