Q: We're an early-stage SAAS company working with our first few beta clients. We're fusing advisory services with our tech until our tech is able to be fully autonomous. I've had over 40 conversations with investors who "love the product, the team, the idea" - but say it's a bit early and we need more traction. Reach out then. Makes sense!

My question is about the pitch though - you hear about 'pitching' every day in this world but I have literally not once actually brought up my deck. Are these investors/angels just blowing smoke by telling me they like us or is this really part of the process? I take a relationship-building approach, chat through myself, my mission, my team, etc. as I want them to invest in us, not just the product - but perhaps I am not being direct enough?

Watch Eric’s response here.

Yikes, this question is long. We’re including it here because it provides some interesting color.

After reading this, it’s quite possible that investors are just blowing you off. Instead of completely rejecting you, this feels like a nice way to say “we’re not interested” while still leaving the door open in case you hit crazy traction.

Eric has never liked this practice. He has experienced this many times when he was a founder too. People in this industry don’t really like saying “no.”

However, it’s also possible there could be truth behind this pushback.

Investors, especially venture capitalists, are getting a lot of pressure from their own investors – especially during this down market – to make stronger cases as to why they should allocate $ to certain companies. This means that the need for higher traction metrics could legitimately be what’s stopping investors from pulling the trigger.

To the next part of the question, relationship building is simply one of those things that takes time. Eric reviews decks in advance of founder meetings but likes to use his time with founders to connect 1:1, not go over the deck slide-by-slide.

Eric recommends putting your pitch deck behind a service like Docsend that allows you to track who has read your assets before your meeting. This lets you see whether they have prepared in advance, or are simply blowing smoke.