Founder: “We’re pre-revenue, pre-MVP… and we’re raising $5M.”
Me (VC): “Got it. I’m a pre-seed investor, so I’m probably not the right fit at that check size. If you decide to raise less, I’d be happy to take a look.”
That was the conversation.
And it’s one I’ve had many times, especially with talented, ambitious founders who are doing nothing wrong, but are slightly misaligned on stage vs. capital. In Hebrew we have an expression called the “Matzliach system.” It’s worth elaborating on this for a moment:
The term Matzliach system (Hebrew: Shitat Matzliach), or “Succeeds Method,” is a colloquial, slang expression in Israeli culture that refers to a, often negative, strategy of attempting to gain something by forcing a situation, pushing boundaries, or abusing people’s lack of attention, time, or “backbone”
It’s a short way of saying that in some cases, this naive approach can succeed. In which case, feel free to ignore my advice. But in most cases, when you misalign the investor/stage, it can be hard to come back to the same investor.
Here’s the thing most first-time founders only learn the hard way:
Not all money is the same.
And not all investors are built for all stages.
Pre-seed investors exist for a very specific moment in a company’s life:
– When the product is still forming
– When the market is still being tested
– When conviction is high but certainty is low
At this stage, capital is meant to buy learning, not scale.
Raising a large round too early can feel like momentum — but it often comes with:
– Expectations you’re not ready to meet
– Pressure to scale before you’ve found product-market fit
– Less room to experiment, pivot, and be wrong
A true pre-seed round, on the other hand, gives you:
– Speed without suffocation
– Investors who expect iteration, not perfection
– More ownership and optionality for future rounds
– The freedom to focus on building, not performing
The best founders I know don’t ask:
“How much can I raise?”
They ask:
“What’s the right amount of capital for where we are today and who are the right partners for this stage?”
Fundraising isn’t about ego or headlines.
It’s about alignment.
Raise the right round.
From the right investors.
At the right time.
That’s how you give your company its best shot.
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
