Why Most Startups Don’t Fail on Product — They Fail on Funding

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Eight pieces of advice
Read time 2.0 minutes.

Here’s a sobering truth: more than 80% of startups die because they run out of money, not because their idea was bad.

Raising capital isn’t luck. It’s a skill — part art, part science, and entirely about preparation.

After sitting across from hundreds of founders, here are the 8 lessons I always share before they step into the arena:

1. Traction beats storytelling.
You don’t raise on potential — you raise on proof. Real users, early revenue, retention data — anything that shows you’ve found product-market fit.

2. Know your lane.
Seed, pre-seed, Series A — each has different expectations. If you’re asking for $3M on an unlaunched prototype, you’ll sound out of touch before you finish the first slide.

3. Keep your deck tight.
Under 12 slides. Perspective Framer, Problem, solution, market, team, traction. The moment you add fluff, you lose attention.

4. Find the right investor.
The right check comes from the right person. One warm intro to an aligned investor beats 200 cold DMs.

5. Be precise with your ask.
“$2M to hit 10k users and expand into two new markets” sounds intentional. “We need runway” sounds desperate.

6. Get your house in order.
Audited financials. Clean cap table. Organized data room. Sloppy diligence is where promising rounds go to die.

7. Build resilience early.
Most decks won’t get a reply. That’s not rejection — that’s the game. Keep going.

8. Grow your network before you need it.
The best time to build investor relationships was six months ago. The second-best time is today.

Fundraising isn’t about convincing people to believe in you — it’s about showing you already believe enough to do the work.

Discipline raises money. Everything else is noise.

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill