James GreenGeneral Partner, DQventures · 🚀 Helping still-employed professionals launch their own business (without quitting first) | GP @

What startup investors are really looking for (it's not you're idea)

29 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief segment, the speakers debunk the common myth that a compelling business idea and a polished pitch deck are enough to secure funding. They emphasize that fundraising should not be viewed as the primary goal or the only path for a startup. Instead, founders are advised to seek investment only after achieving clear traction—specifically, when customers are already paying for the product or service. Investors are interested in financing growth, not just an idea, and founders should demonstrate this traction concretely rather than merely describing it. The "show, not tell" approach—providing tangible evidence of revenue and user adoption—is presented as a critical component of successful fundraising.

Chapters

I think that sort of common misconception is that, you know, you come up with a business idea, you create a great PowerPoint, and then you go out and raise money for your idea and you build a business. Fundraising is not the only option for your company, and nor is it the goal.
We're advising our founders to raise money once we have clear traction. That means people are paying you for something that you're doing now. We're not asking investors to fund an idea, okay? We're asking them to actually fund growth, and you can tell the story around the future growth story because you're not focused on whether there's traction or not. There is traction. You can show it. You don't need to talk about it. And that show, not tell approach is so important in fundraising.