Pre-meeting prep sheet
One page to fill in before a first meeting, covering the questions that reliably come up.
Copyable template
Investor meetings · Copyable template
“No” follow-up template
The reply that turns a pass into something you can use, without arguing with the decision.
An investor's decision is about a fund, a moment, and a set of evidence. It is not automatically a verdict on the company or on you. The first job after a pass is classification, not correction — and not every no is the same kind of evidence.
A fund can pass because the stage, sector, geography, check size, existing portfolio, fund timing, or one partner's interests do not fit, none of which says anything about your company. Another can pass because the customer evidence or the financing plan genuinely is not convincing yet. Those two require completely different responses.
This template is the reply, then the log entry, then the test the feedback turns into. The reply is short on purpose: you are learning where the decision boundary sits, not negotiating a reversal.
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What is in it
- The reply
- The one question
- Classify the no
- The log entry
- Preference, or real risk?
- The test it turns into
- The re-contact note, if there is one
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The template is ready. Add your email to open it, and you will also get The Raise Memo — a note for founders raising capital.
How to use it
Notes
Patterns are not a vote. Five investors independently raising the same concern may still be wrong, but it is a strong enough signal to justify a real experiment; one vague comment may turn out to be exactly right and still needs corroboration before you change direction on it. Do not ask for feedback from a fund that has already told you it is not a fit, do not push for detail that would expose confidential customer information, and do not reshape the company around a single investor's preference when it contradicts what your own customer evidence says.
Where this comes from
The thinking behind it
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Related templates
Reference check questions
What to ask a fund's existing founders, phrased so you get an answer rather than a testimonial.
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From the publication
Read The Raise Memo
A note for founders raising capital—what investors notice, how conviction gets built, and what to do next.
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