Thread by @epaley

🗣️ Don't Waste a VC Pitch Arguing 🗣️

Some of the best startup pitches sound crazy, & VCs are often skeptical. But I want to caution founders not to fall into “debate mode,” & to stay focused on the sale.

Here’s how a pitch goes off the rails, & how to get it back on track:

/1

Step 1: Founder starts with a bold, but contentious claim (often not even the key hypothesis)

Step 2: VC pushes back

Step 3: Meeting devolves into an abstract debate about the unimportant claim

Step 4: As time runs out, the founder struggles to reconcile the disagreement.

/2

Needless to say these pitches rarely work out.

The key thing to remember is that you’re trying to close a deal, not win an argument.

Your goal for the meeting should be getting the VC agreeing with you.

These are some tips that help spur alignment and avoid arguments:

/3

🤝 Get the VC nodding along with you

Your goal should be to get buy-in on shared premises to get the audience agreeing to numerous premises before invoking cognitive dissonance on the most complex assertion.

/4

🤨 Don’t invoke disagreement on things that don’t matter

Only debate the most controversial element of your startup. For instance, don’t oversell how big a potential market is with dubious data, lest it lead to a loss of credibility for your more important claims.

/5

👋 Make the implicit explicit

Don’t assume the key insights that make your startup special are obvious. Help the VC “get there” on points that might be contentious. You likely have been living with this project for a year or more, the VC only has an hour of exposure to it.

/6

🙏 Acknowledge feedback: One of the most powerful moves is to acknowledge feedback & address it in real-time. There should be a lot of sentences like:

“In most cases that’s right, but here’s how this is different…”

“I too was surprised at first, but then...:”

/7

👑 Borrow credibility: For VCs it’s often hard to tell the prophets from the phonies. However, endorsements of your startup or statements supportive of your claims provided by key opinion leaders can add material credibility.

/8

🙉 Adapt: Often, investors will signal what evidence they’d need to see to buy your vision, but the founder misses it because they’re trying to argue the case as they’ve constructed it. Genuinely try to understand *why* the investor is struggling with your pitch — and adapt.

/9

🏰 Don’t get defensive: Treat every pushback from the audience as an opportunity to share your learnings, not to score points. Try to remember the old adage about every “no” bringing you closer to “yes.”

/10

A couple things I want to make perfectly clear:

I’m not suggesting founders should try to flatter investors — they should just meet them where they are.

Don’t just tell VCs what they want to hear — Don’t omit key risks or shortcomings to close a deal. Never mislead.

/11

VCs are very often wrong. Their intuitions are imperfect. They’re prone to asking frustratingly misguided questions. Still, it’s your job as a founder to educate them if you want their money.

It’s often not just about *what* you tell them, it’s about *how.*

/12

The key thing to remember is that when you’re pitching a startup that runs contrary to conventional wisdom (many of the great ones), it’s critical to think more like a salesperson, not a debate team captain.

Investors need to be persuaded, not defeated.

/13

Last reminder - this stuff is hard. Closing capital is rarely easy and there is tons of rejection. You're not alone in finding this challenging.

/14