VCs aren’t just judging your deck and market size, they’re judging you as a human being. In this episode, Jesse Draper breaks down exactly why investors walk away from “impressive” founders and strong companies when the founder fails the character test.

Jesse Draper is the General Partner at Halogen Ventures, a fund backing primarily female founders and “future of family” startups, with over 80 portfolio companies and multiple unicorns including Babylist, The Flex Co, and theSkimm. After seeing countless pitches, she’s developed a clear pattern: the number one reason she passes is not the idea, but the behavior of the founder.

In this conversation, Jesse shares the unfiltered truth about what makes VCs reject impressive founders—even when the startup looks great on paper. She explains why she refuses to partner with “brilliant assholes” and why she needs to believe she can work with you for 10 years before writing a check.

You’ll learn:

• The specific founder behaviors that make investors say no: arrogance, lack of transparency, poor communication, and ghosting your cap table.
• Why responsiveness and openness consistently show up in top‑performing founders, regardless of past exits or pedigree.
• How Jesse evaluates “good human” traits in pitch meetings and pitch days, and why your attitude toward process is a massive signal.
• What to do after a no from a VC, and how the best founders turn rejections into future yeses.

Jesse also talks about pattern recognition in venture capital, why she’s so focused on future of family and women-led startups, and how founder behavior shows up years after the first pitch in board rooms, updates, and tough moments. Whether you’re raising your first round or scaling a unicorn, this episode will help you understand how investors really think about you as a founder.