Most cold outreach goes unanswered. That’s just the brutal truth of fundraising.
But every now and then, a cold pitch breaks through—not because it’s flashy or gimmicky, but because it’s clear, compelling, and thoughtful. Our most recent investment at Remagine Ventures started exactly like that: a cold email from a founder in stealth mode, with no prior connection, no warm introduction, and no prestigious brand name on their resume.
We not only took the meeting—we ended up leading the round.
This experience reinforced something I’ve believed for years: while warm introductions certainly help, they shouldn’t be a barrier to access. Talent and insight emerge from unexpected places. The best founders don’t always have extensive networks, but they do have three things in abundance: clarity of vision, relentless execution, and the ability to tell a compelling story in a crowded inbox.
Let me be direct about the odds. I receive 400-500 cold emails annually. I try to reply to most (sometimes it’s a quick no), a few dozen result in meetings, and 1-2 lead to investment. That’s a 0.3% success rate.
But here’s the thing: it’s not zero. And for founders without networks, or a direct way to get an intro, it might be your best shot.
What Makes a Cold Pitch Stand Out?
After reading thousands of cold emails, I’ve identified five non-negotiable elements that separate signal from noise:
1. Laser-sharp problem definition
Tell me in one crisp sentence: what problem are you solving, and for whom? “We’re building productivity software” tells me nothing. “We’re eliminating the 3-hour daily admin burden for small medical practices” tells me everything.
2. Unique insight or unfair advantage
What do you understand about this market that others miss? Why are you uniquely positioned to win? This isn’t about credentials—it’s about perspective. The founder who cold-emailed us had spent five years in customer support and recognised patterns that product teams were blind to.
3. Evidence of execution
Have you built something people actually use? Early traction doesn’t need to be massive, but it needs to be real. “We have 50 power users who pay us $200/month and grew 25% last month” beats “We project $10M ARR by year three”. I’m always reluctant when founders pitch on an idea but didn’t roll up their sleeves to talk to potential customers.
4. Grounded vision
I want to understand your long-term ambition, but it must be tethered to a believable path forward. Show me the stepping stones, not just the destination.
5. The right tone
Confident but humble. Ambitious but realistic. You don’t need all the answers, but demonstrate that you’re asking the right questions and doing the hard work to find them.
How to Instantly Kill Your Cold Pitch
There are plenty of templates out there for crafting good cold emails (if not, just ask your trusted LLM for one), but there is a long list of ‘Don’ts’ that will immediately kill your cold approach. Here are some of the common mistakes to avoid. I’ll try to clarify what I’m personally looking for as well.
Geographic mismatch: Pitching a US-only VC when you’re based in Southeast Asia with no US plans. Check fund geography before hitting send. We invest globally, but primarily in Israeli-founded startups (with some exceptions).
Stage disconnect: Sending your $5M ARR company to a pre-seed fund. Stage alignment isn’t optional. The reason for it is that most funds have a typical check size, for which they expect to get a minimum equity stake. We invest primarily as first check investors, pre-seed and occasionally seed.
Sector blindness: Pitching enterprise software to a consumer-only fund. This takes 30 seconds to research on their website. We invest in both B2B and B2C startups.
Portfolio conflicts: Reaching out when they already have a direct competitor in their portfolio. A simple portfolio scan would save everyone time.
Zero personalisation: “Dear Sir/Madam” or generic copy-paste templates like “Hi, {{First Name}}” are immediately deleted. If you can’t spend 2 minutes personalising, why should I spend 2 minutes reading?
The spray-and-pray approach: Sending identical emails to 200 VCs, sometimes putting everyone in Bcc. We talk to each other—trust me, we notice.
LinkedIn is a great way to get in touch, but email works as well.
If you’re building something meaningful and lack the perfect network, don’t let that stop you. Research properly, write clearly, and press send.
Some of us are still reading.
P.S. If you’re building in gaming, entertainment tech, or next-gen consumer experiences (especially AI native), we’re actively seeking ambitious founders at the earliest stages. Don’t hesitate to reach out—cold emails welcome.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
- Weekly Firgun Newsletter – February 27, 2026 - February 27, 2026
- The Rise of the Personal AI Agent - February 26, 2026
- Pre-Seed Is Stronger than ever, but less startups are getting funded - February 25, 2026
