VCs will hate me sharing this

When VCs pass on a pitch, they don’t say no to the company. They say no to the story.

But it’s true, especially at the pre-seed and seed stages. Maybe at the A, B, and C stages too.

I’m Carl. I started at McKinsey, spent eight years at IDEO, then founded Presentation Mode.

After years of helping top founders prepare to pitch, I have the data and the pattern recognition to back it up.

I’m up to around 100 successful pitches and $1B raised.

The key to success in pitching is telling a compelling story that does three things:

1. Makes a robust investment argument (not just talk about how cool the tech is)
2. Creates a sense of urgency, maybe even excitement
3. Messages the key points in a clear way that someone can actually understand

Most pitches do none of this.

At best, they’re lists of facts held together by jargon and wishful thinking.

I would know. I’m constantly looking at pitches: with my clients, at the coworking space, on planes, or at the offices of my VC friends.

Crafting compelling pitches isn’t necessarily complicated. But… nobody explains it.

So I’m going to start sharing what I’ve learned the hard way, watching what gets a “yes” and what gets a polite pass.

Welcome to The Napkin.

One idea each week on fundraising and pitching. The goal: make your pitch hard to ignore, and make investors lean in.

The name comes from the idea of a napkin pitch: that beautiful moment early in the venture building journey when you first sketch your idea on the proverbial napkin. Ironically, that’s when the vision is clearest and most concise. Somehow founders add complication and clutter down the line.

A few months ago, I ran an awesome event at NY Tech Week (check out the video if you haven’t already).

Nearly everyone in the room was a pre-seed founder, hungry to get smarter about what VCs are actually looking for.

That’s how I have your email. And rather than let the moment pass, I wanted to seize on the opportunity to add some real value to your lives as founders.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Every week I’ll give you one piece of tangible, actionable advice for your pitch, share insights from behind the scenes with Silicon Valley’s top founders, and answer questions straight from you.

No recycled nonsense from the so-called gurus on LinkedIn. Real, hard-earned insight and experience from the fundraising trenches.

I want this to be a conversation. Have a question you’ve been wrestling with? Hit reply, and I’ll answer it (the answers to the hottest questions will be shared in The Napkin).

If this isn’t useful to you, no offense taken, unsubscribe below and you’re off the list for good. If it is, welcome. I’m glad you’re here.

First issue drops next week. We’ll start with the one slide mistake nearly every founder makes, and the fix that takes five minutes.

Talk soon.

-Carl