To all founders , don’t do this

To all founders raising money from investors. Don’t do this.

1) Don’t use dollar for your funding ask and use INR for valuation. Have a uniformity in your numbers.
2) Don’t send password protected decks and expect the investor to generate a password from another link. Don’t add more friction to the review process.
3) Your follower count on Instagram is not equal to business traction. Don’t add that on your growth slide.
4) Don’t add stock images and random quotes as customer testimonials. Genuinity matters. Have seen the same customer face three times in a day on different decks.
5) On your growth slide, elaborate the metrics you are tracking. Don’t assume everyone understands the abbreviations you are using.
6) Don’t assume everyone uses Microsoft teams and add that in the calendar invite. Ask for preference.
7) Don’t put your consultants names as founding members. It’s ok if you are two founders and a few interns.
8) If you are an early stage company (< 2-3cr ARR), avoid vision and mission statements. Put more thought on the problem statement, your solution and why that matters.
9) If you want to show a market trend or data. Don’t just mention “sources”. Add the actual reference on the slide.
10) Don’t use chat GPT for your email intro. Those are very evident.

It’s your company. It’s your passion. Be honest in everything you share and say.
That is a founder moat.