About This Episode

In this episode of Practical Nerds, Patric and Shub share their candid observations from reviewing thousands of startup pitches at Foundamental. They discuss the most common gaps they see in founder presentations and what they wish more founders understood about the fundraising process, offering practical insights for construction tech and AEC startups looking to improve their pitch and execution strategy.

In This Episode

The critical importance of having extremely specific tactical plans before fundraising, including detailed execution strategies for the next 6 months rather than vague ambitions

Why founders should actively seek out and acknowledge bottlenecks in their business, from personal weaknesses to competitive challenges, rather than avoiding uncomfortable truths

The power of maintaining direct access to primary information as a founder, including customer conversations and sales calls, rather than delegating information collection

Understanding fundraising as capital allocation and recognizing that raising money means trading company ownership for resources that must generate returns

The difference between research and experimentation, and why founders need strong hypotheses before running experiments rather than using fundraising to "figure things out"

Timestamps

(00:00 ) Introduction and Thanksgiving in Japan banter

(02:00 ) Overview: What founders get wrong about pitching and fundraising

(03:56 ) The lack of tactical specificity in founder plans(09:01 ) Why founders delay tactical planning and the gym workout analogy

(14:34 ) The importance of identifying and acknowledging bottlenecks

(20:48 ) Founders who delegate information collection versus staying hands-on

(24:37 ) Examples from successful CEOs who maintain founder-led product and sales

(26:56 ) Founders as capital allocators and the cost of equity

(32:40 ) Wrap-up

Resources or Companies Mentioned

Faktus: https://faktus.eu/

Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/

Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/

Connect With Us

Practical Nerds Website: https://practicalnerds.com/

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/practical-nerds-7180899738613882881/

Foundamental: https://www.foundamental.com/

Patric Hellermann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aecvc/

Shub Bhattacharya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shubhankar-bhattacharya-a1063a3/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@foundamentalvc

The Daily Blueprint: https://tinyurl.com/the-daily-blueprint

#StartupFundraising #FounderMindset #VentureCapital