FasterCapital

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 “𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲.” I asked him what that meant. He said: “I don’t look like the founders investors usually invest in!” That bothered me. Because he was not talking about the business. He was talking about himself. His background. His school. His country. His accent. His lack of top 500 companies on LinkedIn. The startup was actually interesting. Real customers. Clear pain. Good early traction. But before investors even rejected him, he had already started rejecting himself. That is what happens when the startup world keeps showing the same founder image again and again. Some people see themselves in it. Many do not. 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵. Investors say they want hidden talent. Then we sometimes make hidden talent feel like it should stay hidden. That needs to change! #Founders #Startups #AngelInvesting #Fundraising #ImmigrantFounders

𝗔 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. His real name was on the first email. But when he joined the call, the Zoom name was a shorter English version. I asked him, casually, “Which name do you prefer I use?” He smiled and said: “Use the short one. Investors remember it better.” Before he even started pitching, he had already adjusted himself: his name, his accent, his pace, his story. Even the way he explained his market. The company was strong. The numbers were clear. The customers were real. But I kept thinking about that small Zoom detail. Some founders are not only pitching their startup. They are also trying to make themselves easier to accept. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆. As investors, the least we can do is learn the founder’s real name before judging the company. Sometimes respect starts before the first slide. #Founders #AngelInvesting #Startups #Fundraising #ForeignFounders #ImmigrantFounders

Had a pitch call on Zoom last month. Professional setup. Clean background. Good lighting. Halfway through, his virtual background glitched for a second and I caught a glimpse of where he actually was. A small room. Clothes on a chair. A bed right behind his desk. He quickly fixed the background and kept going like nothing happened. After the call, I messaged him: "You don't ever need to hide where you're working from. Some of the best companies in history started in rooms exactly like yours." He replied: "Thank you. I've been so embarrassed about it. Everyone else on LinkedIn seems to have a nice office." LinkedIn isn't real life. Offices aren't proof of progress. Revenue is. Some of the hardest-working founders I know are building from bedrooms, kitchens, and shared apartments. WHERE you build doesn't matter. WHAT you build does. #Founders #RealLife #Startups #NoPretending #AngelInvesting

A founder told me yesterday he almost didn’t apply because he thought angel investors only back people "with connections." He’s a first-generation entrepreneur. No network. No safety net. Built his MVP while working a full-time job. I asked him what gave him the confidence to finally reach out. He said: "Honestly? I ran out of reasons to wait." THAT’S the founder energy I look for. Not confidence born from privilege. Confidence born from having no other option but to try. Tag a first-time founder who deserves to be seen ⬇️ #FirstTimeFounder #Startups #Hustle #AngelInvesting #Entrepreneurship

A founder pitched me last week. His accent was thick and he kept apologizing for his English. I told him to stop apologizing. After the pitch, I asked him about his background. He'd moved to a new country 3 years ago. Alone. No network. No family nearby. Taught himself to code from YouTube videos while working night shifts at a warehouse. His startup now has 200 paying customers. When I asked what drives him, he said: "My parents sold their land to pay for my plane ticket. I can't go back empty-handed." I sat with that for a long time. Some founders are motivated by ambition. Some by curiosity. And some are carrying the weight of an entire family's sacrifice on their shoulders. Don't judge a founder by their accent, their background, or where they come from. Judge them by what they've built with what they had. #ImmigrantFounders #Diversity #Startups #Hustle #AngelInvesting

I’ll admit something many investors do not enjoy saying out loud: We get it wrong. A lot. Sometimes we pass not because the company is weak… …but because it makes us uncomfortable in the wrong way. The founder is rough. The market looks odd. The deck is average. The story is not familiar enough. So we say the professional sentence: “Come back with more traction.” Sometimes that is true. Sometimes it really means: “I do not trust my imagination enough yet.” A lot of investing is not pattern recognition. It is pattern imprisonment. We say we want originality. Then we get nervous when it does not arrive in familiar packaging. I have missed opportunities because I overvalued polish and undervalued obsession. That lesson stays with you. The cost of a bad investment is money. The cost of a missed one is a scar on your judgment. And the honest investors remember both portfolios: the companies they funded and the companies they should have. #Investing #AngelInvesting #VentureCapital #Founders #Startups

Let’s do a useful one. What is one sentence founders say that instantly makes you less confident? I’ll start: “We have no competition.” “We just need exposure.” “Everyone wants this.” “We can scale instantly.” “We are pre-revenue but demand is huge.” My personal favorite is when a founder answers a detailed question with a bigger adjective instead of a better answer. That always ends beautifully. The reason this matters is simple: Certain sentences are not just words. They signal shallow thinking, avoided homework, or borrowed language. And once you hear enough pitches, those signals become hard to ignore. On the other hand, there are also sentences that increase confidence fast: “We were wrong about that.” “We do not know yet, but here is how we’ll find out.” “This segment buys faster than the others.” “This is our biggest weakness right now.” So I’m curious: What sentence makes you instantly more skeptical in startup conversations? #Startups #Founders #Fundraising #AngelInvesting #Leadership

Got a LinkedIn message at 2 AM from a founder I'd never met. It said: "I know you don't know me. But I've read your posts and I think you might understand. I'm about to shut down my company and I don't know who to talk to." I replied in the morning: "I'm here. Let's talk." We had a 45-minute call. He wasn't looking for money. He was looking for someone who wouldn't judge him for failing. I didn't invest in his company. But I spent time helping him think through his next steps. Introduced him to two people who might help. Around three months later (yesterday), he messaged me again: "I started something new. And this time, I know what I'm doing." Not every interaction needs to end with a check. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can offer a founder is your time and your honesty. #FounderSupport #MentalHealth #Startups #Community #AngelInvesting