RTC #44: The two dimensions of VC meetings: presence + infrastructure

In partnership with

Hi everyone, here is today’s issue at a glance:

Forwarded this email? Join over 2,000 founders and early-stage investors and sign up now.

The future of presentations, powered by AI

Gamma’s AI creates beautiful presentations, websites, and more. No design or coding skills required. Try it free today.

📢 My favorite links of the week

👉 VC math explained to founders. MUST READ. (Link) -
My favorite this week

👉 More startups are exiting at a loss than at any point since 2009 (Link)

👉 How you nail your elevator pitch: this is the framework you need (Link)

👉 The 5 biggest technology trends for 2025. Are you ready? (Link)

👉 Startup life in Germany: “Welcome to bureaucracy land” (Link)

👉 The true cost of building a startup (Link)

👉 Learn from the fastest-growing software company - ever (Link)

📖 Report of the week

The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024

• A comprehensive analysis of the current state of startup ecosystems worldwide.

There is never ONE reason why you had a good (meaning successful) meeting with a VC.

For me, there are two fundamental dimensions:

• Presence

• Infrastructure

What do I mean by “Presence”?

This refers more to the qualitative aspects of the meeting that directly influence how well you connect with investors.

We talked about this some time ago.

What do I mean by “Infrastructure”?

Remember - one of the key success factors is showing that you can execute as a founder.

“Infrastructure” refers to the underlying tech stack you use in your process. It is not only about the pitch deck and the meeting itself - it is about how you perform before, during, and after the meeting with the VC.

The good thing is, everything is out there already. The more complicated part is picking the right tools.

Today I picked some of the favourites I use and I see founders using them when approaching me. Yes, there are 100s of other tools but let us start with a small selection to make it easy for you to start. Always get the basics right first.

1. Before the meeting

👉 Start your fundraising process in a structured way, and use a CRM to track the progress. Here is a template for a fundraising CRM from Airtable.

👉 Research the right and best-fit investors without paying for lists and licenses. Check out these two databases:

• NFX Signal

• Crunchbase 

👉 I believe you should have a financial model (even as an early-stage founder). The reason: this helps you as a founder to understand the drivers of your business. Finmark and Visible can help you with that.

👉 To send your deck use docsend, so that you know who opened the deck and had a look at it.

👉 Give investors the possibility to schedule a meeting with one click and no email back and forth

2. During the meeting

👉 Record and take notes to write your follow-up email. (Ask at the start of the meeting if this is OK for everyone).

3. After the meeting

👉 Collect all data in one place to be able to share it with interested investors in one click. See a list of the most common providers for startups.

👉 Schedule follow-ups, send thank-you notes, or provide additional resources after the meeting, ensuring that momentum continues.

Interested in more? 🤓

Learn how you secure a meeting in the first place.

Thank you for reading today’s issue. If you enjoyed it, leave a like or comment, and share it with your friends. Follow me on LinkedIn to never miss updates again.

Have a great week,
Stephan 👋

Issue #44 | 15 October