Welcome back to Raise Like a Pro dear reader! ; a newsletter to help you do exactly that.

I'm David, and unlike most people giving fundraising advice, I don't just talk about raising money – I’ve been there as a founder and now I spend my day raising money for startups all over the world from investors all over the world.

I've closed millions in new investment in the past few months alone for startups - and I’m going to teach you how to do it without needing someone like me. This is my playbook; the operational, tactical and yes - sometimes boring stuff you need to do each and every day to raise your round.

No nonsense, no fluff and definitely no fuzzy sheep.

Table of Contents

• My promise to you

• 📈TL;DR: Be a line, not a dot.

• ❤️‍🔥Deck Roast with Dan Bowyer

• 💰 Deals done this week

• Deep dive: Draw out those lines

• 📖 Interesting things I’ve been reading

• About Raise Like a Pro

My promise to you

Every piece of advice in this newsletter comes from actual experience: deals I've closed, terms I've negotiated, and strategies I've refined through real-world application.

I'm not here to give you startup platitudes or generic advice. Instead, you'll get practical, actionable tactics that you can implement immediately in your fundraising journey.

The goal? To help you raise money faster, at better valuations, while protecting your interests and your time.

– David

📈TL;DR: Be a line, not a dot.

Anyone whose heard me speak, mentor or merely pontificate knows I quote Mark Suster a LOT; especially his seminal piece “Investors invest in Lines not Dots”. It was written an eternity ago (in startup years) but is as relevant in an Age of AI as anything else.

Mark explains that you don’t turn up to an investor’s door the day before you want to close a round but you build a relationship over and ahead of time.

Last week I explained how 97% of deals happen through warm relationships. That's not just a nice figure - it's the difference between getting funded and going home empty-handed.

Mark’s advice:

• Start ridiculously early - at least 12-18 months before you need money. Don't pitch them yet! Instead, share your vision, ask targeted advice, and show genuine interest in their perspective.

• Then keep them updated every couple of months with short, scannable progress reports. No fluff, just honest updates on what you've achieved and any challenges you're facing.

• The biggest thing? Actually do what you say you'll do. Nothing builds investor confidence like seeing you consistently execute.

Meanwhile, cultivate people who can introduce you properly. Increase your surface area of influence. Don't just randomly connect - research specific investors who fit your business and ask for targeted intros.

We unpick this topic below.

❤️‍🔥Deck Roast with Dan Bowyer

A few weeks ago I got to sit down with the amazing and incredible Dan Bowyer of Super Seed Ventures who is known for being brutally honest (in the best way).

We roasted 3 real decks in realtime and gave candid, direct, raw feedback, we pulled no punches and we told people what they probably thought was the truth but were too afraid to ask.

• GigMate: tackling the music gig scene

• Fluvialycs: AI-powered flood prediction

• CapNova: a wealth platform for high-net-worth investors

It was an amazing session with several hundred people live watching in and we had over 50 decks submitted to be roasted.

No fluff, no sugar-coating—just raw, actionable feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and what needs fixing if you want that investor meeting. Whether you're preparing for pre-seed or pushing towards Series A, this is gold.

🚀 Key takeaways:

• What actually makes a deck VC-backable

• The slide that can instantly kill your chances

• Why “eating with our eyes” applies to investors too

• How to avoid sounding like “AI-powered word salad”

• Why positioning and ICP clarity are everything

⏱️ Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Intro to Deck Roast & why aesthetics matter

• 03:22 – Meet guest investor Dan Bowyer (Supersede Ventures)

• 05:15 – Deck #1: GigMate – music, tribes & pitch confusion

• 14:35 – The "eat with your eyes" effect on investors

• 17:40 – Product vs vision confusion & cluttered storytelling

• 23:05 – Team slides: why VCs care who’s behind the deck

• 27:18 – TAM slides are (still) mostly nonsense

• 30:30 – Deck #2: Fluvialix – smart tech, unclear buyer

• 36:05 – Who’s your ICP? Why positioning is everything

• 42:55 – Deck #3: CapNova – premium market, messy message

• 50:40 – Identifying the real customer & value proposition

• 56:10 – Why most early-stage roadmaps fall flat

• 58:50 – What you must show on your "ask" slide

• 1:01:35 – Final thoughts: why positioning > pitch

💰 Deals done this week

• Nuada, a Belfast-based carbon capture startup, has secured €2.5m (£2.1m) from the EU’s EIC Accelerator, becoming the first Northern Irish firm to win the prize. The company provides low-energy CO₂ capture technology for sectors like cement, lime, steel, and energy, aiming to overcome traditional carbon capture systems' cost and efficiency barriers. Backed by previous Series A funding (£7.9m) and Innovate UK grants, Nuada operates two plants in Europe and sees its tech as key to accelerating industrial decarbonisation and meeting the UK’s net-zero goals. Read more

• London-based Unravel, an AI-powered video commerce platform aiming to be the “TikTok of travel,” has raised $7m in Series A funding led by Nauta Capital, with backing from several notable investors including ex-Booking.com executives and sports icons. The platform transforms travel creator videos into AI-assisted booking experiences and will use the funding to enhance its AI tech and expand its team. Unravel is capitalising on the shift in travel discovery from search engines to social content, offering a white-label solution for brands adding travel to their offerings. Read more

• Cambridge-based medical robotics firm CMR Surgical has raised $200m in a funding round backed by SoftBank, Tencent, and new investor Trinity Capital to drive the US launch of its Versius surgical robotic system. Already used in over 30,000 procedures across 30+ countries, Versius supports minimally invasive surgeries in fields like gynaecology and urology. The funding will accelerate global commercialisation, particularly in the $567bn US medtech market, and was praised by the UK government as a boost to the country’s life sciences sector. Read more

Deep dive: Draw out those lines

Last week we chatted about cold emails versus warm intros when approaching investors, and I highlighted that staggering statistic: 97% of investment deals come through warm relationships. Not exactly shocking when you think about it, is it? But today I want to dig deeper into why this happens and how you can use this reality to your advantage.

The Problem with "Dots"

Mark Suster, a prominent VC at Upfront Ventures, wrote a cracking article called "Invest in Lines, Not Dots" that perfectly captures why most founders get this all wrong.

Here's the stark reality: if an investor only meets you once—particularly when you're actively fundraising—all they see is a single data point. Suster calls this a "dot." And investing based on a single dot is bloody risky business.

Think about it from their perspective. When you show up asking for money, they're seeing:

• Your best behaviour

• Your most polished pitch

• Your carefully crafted answers to obvious questions

• A snapshot of your business at one specific moment

Would YOU invest serious money based on that limited information? Of course not.

Why Investors Need to See "Lines"

What investors really want is to see the trajectory of you and your business over time—multiple data points that form a line. As Suster puts it:

When investors see you over multiple meetings across months (or even years), they gather crucial intelligence:

• How you respond to feedback

• Whether you actually execute on the things you say you will

• How you handle setbacks

• Your ability to evolve your thinking

• Your true character when you're not in "pitch mode"

This creates a dramatically different foundation for making an investment decision than a single meeting could ever provide.

The Harsh Truth About Cold Approaches

Remember our chat about that 97% warm introduction statistic? Here's why cold approaches rarely work when fundraising:

1. Trust deficit: There's no social proof or pre-established credibility

2. Pattern recognition: Investors have seen that cold approaches statistically perform worse

3. Relationship gap: You're starting from zero on the relationship-building front

4. Time constraints: VCs receive hundreds of cold outreaches weekly and simply can't process them all

When you reach out cold, you're essentially asking an investor to make a decision based on a single dot. And as we've established, that's not how good investments happen.

Building Lines, Not Dots: A Practical Approach

So how do you create these valuable "lines" with potential investors? Here's my straightforward approach:

1. Start ridiculously early

Begin building relationships with potential investors 12-18 months before you actually need funding. This isn't just some nice-to-have; it's absolutely essential. As Suster emphasises, you want investors to "see how you perform over time."

2. Focus on genuine connection, not immediate pitching

Your first interactions with potential investors shouldn't include asking for money. Instead:

• Share what you're working on and why it matters

• Ask for specific, targeted advice on a challenge you're facing

• Demonstrate genuine interest in their perspective and expertise

• Be concise, respectful of their time, and crystal clear about what you're building

3. Provide regular, meaningful updates

Once you've established initial contact, send brief updates every 6-8 weeks. These should:

• Be scannable in 60 seconds or less

• Highlight clear progress and milestones achieved

• Acknowledge setbacks honestly (and what you're doing about them)

• End with a specific question or thought that might be interesting to them

• Never include an ask for money (yet)

4. Demonstrate that you execute

The most valuable thing you can show an investor over time is that you actually do what you say you'll do. If you mentioned you'd hit a specific milestone by your next update, make bloody sure you hit it—or have a compelling explanation for why things changed.

As Suster notes:

The Power of Warm Introductions

While you're building these investor relationships over time, you should also be cultivating potential introducers. Remember that 97% statistic about warm intros? Here's how to harness it:

1. Map your extended network: Who do you know that might know investors? This includes:

   • Other founders (especially those who've raised money)

   • Industry experts

   • Lawyers and accountants who work with startups

   • Former colleagues in the startup ecosystem

2. Build genuine relationships with these connectors: Don't just reach out when you need something. Support them, share insights, and be a resource long before you need an introduction.

3. Be specific when asking for intros: When the time comes, don't just ask "Do you know any investors?" Instead, research specific investors who would be a good fit and ask for introductions to those particular individuals.

Putting It All Together

The magic happens when you combine these approaches. Imagine this scenario:

1. You start building relationships with potential investors 15 months before fundraising

2. You simultaneously cultivate relationships with well-connected people in your industry

3. When fundraising time approaches, you already have several investors who've seen your "line" over time

4. For new target investors, you can get warm introductions from your network

This approach dramatically increases your odds of success compared to cold outreach or last-minute relationship building.

A Final Thought

Building investor relationships isn't just about securing funding. It's about creating a network of people who believe in you and your vision—people who will support you through the inevitable ups and downs of building a business.

As Suster concludes in his article:

So ask yourself: Are you trying to fundraise based on a single dot? Or have you invested the time to create meaningful lines with potential investors?

Next week, I'll share some specific examples of effective investor update emails that have worked brilliantly for founders I've advised. Until then, start mapping out those potential investor relationships and get cracking on building lines, not dots.

🤖 AI in fundraising

Fundraising is time-intensive and distracts from what matters - building the business. Emerging AI tools will help you save time whether summarising investor requests, preparing for meetings, or managing due diligence materials.

Here are a couple of tools that have been a game changer for me recently:

• Lumen5 - An AI-powered platform that converts text content into engaging videos, ideal for creating marketing materials and social media content without needing extensive video editing skills. Try it here

• Hootsuite Insights - Uses AI to analyse social media trends and sentiment, allowing you to track brand mentions, monitor competitors, and gain valuable insights into customer behaviour. Try it here

📖 Interesting things I’ve been reading

• Klarna IPO window uncertain as Trump tariff chaos unfolds: ‘We’re in the eye of the storm’ - read here.

• IBM releases a new mainframe built for the age of AI. Read here.

• Invest in Lines not Dots. Read here.

About Raise Like a Pro

Raising a funding round isn’t rocket science. It’s not even brain surgery. But it's incredibly time-consuming, HARD and emotionally challenging.

As a founder, your time is better spent building product, finding product-market fit, signing up customers, and building your team. Yet fundraising demands an enormous amount of your attention and energy.

I've witnessed countless founders struggle with this balance. They get stuck in the cycle of endless pitch meetings, confusing feedback, and the dreaded "no's" that seem to pile up without explanation. Even successful companies like Canva, now valued at $25.5 billion, started with their CEO Melanie Perkins hearing "no" over 100 times before getting that crucial first "yes."

What this newsletter will give you

I'm going to share my exact playbook – the same one I use to raise millions for startups across the world. This isn't about theory or inspiration. Instead, you'll get:

• The actual processes I use to close deals.

• Step-by-step morning routines for effective fundraising.

• Real email templates that get responses.

• Meeting scripts that convert to term sheets.

• Pipeline management techniques that close deals.

• The stuff you really need to know so you don’t get screwed by investors.

My days are spent navigating negotiations with every type of investor: angels looking for their next big win, syndicates pooling capital for bigger deals, and VC firms conducting thorough due diligence.

I'll share insights from all these perspectives, helping you understand how each type of investor thinks and what they're really looking for.

What's coming up

In the next issues, we'll dive into a whole bunch of stuff including:

• How to structure your fundraising for maximum efficiency

• The exact outreach strategies I use to get investor meetings

• Common terms to watch out for (and how to negotiate them)

• Ways to create competitive tension in your raise

• Due diligence preparation that speeds up closing

Raise like a Pro is what David Levine does every single day though this business Glenluna Ventures. An exited founder, he raises money each and every day for founders all over the world from investors all over the world.