Raising money for your startup isn’t just about pitching but navigating egos, timing, and a flood of contradictory feedback.

Why do some founders win over early believers who open every door, while others get stuck in endless “soft nos”? And how do you avoid twisting yourself into a pretzel trying to please every investor you meet?

In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein and Chris Saad dive into the gritty, unfiltered reality of early-stage fundraising. Yaniv shares six fresh, hard-earned lessons from raising a pre-seed round for his own startup, Violet. These are insights you rarely hear outside closed-door founder circles.

In this episode, you will:

• Learn why your pitch deck should be treated like a product—and why rapid iteration matters more than perfection.
• Discover how to find and leverage early believers who can champion your raise.
• Understand why you can’t (and shouldn’t) try to please every investor.
• Recognize that rejections will never stop stinging—and how to keep going anyway.
• Decode why some investors say they can’t invest and what that really means.
• Get strategies for overcoming the embarrassment of asking for money, especially from people you know.
• Hear how macro trends like the IPO drought ripple down to impact early-stage funding.
  

Whether you’re a first-time founder or a seasoned operator gearing up for another raise, this episode will give you a candid, practical roadmap for navigating the messy art of securing early capital.

The Pact 

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Key links

Get your question in for our next Q&A episode: https://forms.gle/NZzgNWVLiFmwvFA2A 

The Startup Podcast website: https://www.tsp.show/episodes/

Learn more about Chris and Yaniv

Work 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/  

Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/  

Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/

Producer: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthur

Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/