Mixpanel Was a Week From Death: Suhail's Fundraising Story
Suhail Doshi recounts Mixpanel's 2009 raise: $15K from YC, half the batch dying after demo day, 11 firms saying no, two firms wanting to replace him as CEO, and a VC telling him point blank he'd fail, before closing $500K at a $2M pre a week before running out of money. He extracts what actually drove the eventual yes: team and whether the idea is personally interesting to the investor.
Objections & RejectionFundraising PsychologySeed200+ Nos and 12 Wasted Months: Udemy's Seed Mistakes
Gagan Biyani walks through every mistake three first-time founders made raising Udemy's seed: 200+ rejections and 12 months of wasted fundraising before barely pulling through. Each mistake is framed as a lesson for new founders.
Objections & RejectionFundraising StrategySeedCloudflare's Worst VC Stories: The Sequoia Pass and the Andreessen Ambush
Cloudflare's CEO shares two of the company's worst fundraising stories: a Sequoia partner who passed because he didn't think a woman (co-founder Michelle Zatlyn) could lead a security infrastructure company, and an unprepared meet-and-greet with Marc Andreessen that turned out to be a full pitch. Posted during the June 2026 viral VC horror-story wave.
Objections & RejectionFundraising EthicsSeedWhat Investors Will Ask You, and Why: Decoding the Fundraising Process
A former founder turned pre-seed VC (20,000+ pitches reviewed) explains the questions investors actually ask, and the underlying reason behind each one, so founders are never blindsided in meetings.
Investor MeetingsRaise ReadinessPre-SeedPitching Zynga to a Sleeping Partner: 'Weekend at Bernie's Meets Silicon Valley'
Pincus recalls pitching Zynga in 2007, when no firm wanted to back the company, to a partner who fell asleep mid-pitch. Zynga went on to a multi-billion-dollar IPO.
Investor MeetingsObjections & RejectionSeedFree Pitch Feedback for Black Founders: Closing the Candor Gap
The closing post of Chen's June 2020 thread offering Black founders direct, live pitch feedback, the kind VCs are typically uncomfortable giving, naming the candor gap as a concrete fundraising disadvantage.
Fundraising EthicsPitch DeckAny Stage