Vitaliy Gnezdilov is the co-founder of Raise Ready Systems, a capital-raising platform helping real estate operators attract six- and seven-figure checks through paid social campaigns. With a background in user experience design, Vitaliy blends creative branding with performance marketing to help sponsors scale beyond friends and family capital. He has raised over $40M alongside strategic partners and formerly worked at CrowdStreet to streamline investor acquisition and conversion at an enterprise level.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Key Takeaways

• Social media can drive serious capital—but only if you build trust, credibility, and speed into your funnel.

• "Speed to lead" is the difference between a committed investor and a missed opportunity.

• Avoid pitching too early—use the first call to understand investor goals and qualify the fit.

• Human touchpoints (real calls, manual follow-up) outperform automation when raising large checks.

• Sophisticated investors do respond to ads—if you tailor your messaging and sales process to their needs.

Topics

From UX Design to Real Estate Capital

• Vitaliy began his career in software and UX before partnering with a high school friend in advertising.

• Together, they leveraged design and paid traffic to raise capital in exchange for GP equity.

• Worked with sponsors across multifamily, mobile home parks, and ATMs—raising $40M+.

Building Raise Ready Systems

• Created a framework to generate investor conversations using paid ads and optimized funnels.

• Emphasizes "speed to lead" and relationship-building, not just lead generation.

• Most clients aim to raise $1M/month per investor relations rep using his system.

What Actually Works in Paid Campaigns

• 15–20 ad hooks are tested at launch; funnel must earn attention seconds at a time.

• Webinar funnels often fail due to lack of contextual awareness—must match platform behavior.

• Content and UX must be laser-targeted; the platform algorithm does the rest.

Human Touch vs. Over-Automation

• Raise Ready added an appointment-setting team that calls leads within 5 minutes.

• Human contact builds credibility before handing leads to IR teams.

• Created diligence packets and follow-up sequences to support investor conversion.

Common Mistakes Operators Make

• Lack of sales process is the biggest bottleneck—not lead volume.

• Founders often pitch too early; better to listen, qualify, and align investment opportunity.

• Raising from strangers is a different game than friends and family—adjust your approach.

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Round of Insights

Failure that set Vitaliy up for success: Generating leads without a solid sales process led to client struggles—so they built internal appointment-setting and partnered with a top IR pro raising $1.5M/week.

Digital or mobile resource: RaiseReadySystems.com — explore the call funnel firsthand and browse in-depth insights on their blog.

Book recommendation: Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell — a playbook for reclaiming your time and scaling your business through team leverage.

Daily habit: Praying each morning—"Throne before phone"—to center himself before opening the laptop.

#1 insight for raising capital: Speed to lead. But more importantly—don't pitch right away. Listen, qualify, and match your offer to investor needs.

Favorite restaurant in Minneapolis, MN: Khâluna.

Next Steps

• Connect with Vitaliy at RaiseReadySystems.com

• Explore their sales funnel strategy and blog resources

• Reach out to see if Raise Ready is a fit for your capital-raising goals

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