Fundraising Needs Vision and Execution
Vision gets investors leaning forward. Execution gets them writing checks.
When you’re raising capital, you’re selling two things at once: the future and how you’re going to get there.
The future is the vision. It’s the story about where the world is headed, why the opportunity is massive, and how you and your company are uniquely positioned to capture it. Vision is what gets people excited. It sparks the imagination. Without clarity of vision, you can’t raise, no matter how good the numbers are.
But vision alone isn’t (typically) enough to close a Seed raise, and certainly not a Series A and beyond. Investors also need to know you can execute. They’re investing into today’s business and the work that will be done to achieve tomorrow’s goals. The difference between a busted process and a great round is your ability to articulate both.
Why the plan matters
It goes without saying, but a well-articulated, believable plan for how you’ll get from where you are today to the next set of milestones is essential for a successful raise. But even though it is obvious, you’d be surprised at how many founders can’t articulate what they will do with the capital once it’s raised.
Take hiring. One founder might say, “We’ll hire engineers to build out the product.” Another might say, “We’re bringing on three engineers. Two are already identified, with start dates pending the financing. One will focus on hardening the back end, and the other on tightening up the front end and user onboarding.”
Who would you invest in?
Or revenue growth. It’s one thing to say, “With this money we’ll get to $5M in ARR on the back of 100 customers with an average of $50k ACV.” It’s another to lay out the mechanics of the average deal size, expected conversion rates, length of the sales cycle, and how onboarding translates into paid contracts.
The former represents aspiration. The latter demonstrates command. It shows you understand not just the size of the opportunity, but the steps required to realize it. This kind of depth flips the investor’s mindset. Instead of asking, “Will they figure it out?” they’re asking, “What happens if I don’t invest and they do figure it out?”
Bring the future into the present
At Garuda, we often say we’re looking for founders who can paint a vision of the future and then pull that future into the present. The ability to map a 5-10 year vision to next month’s concrete deliverables separates a compelling pitch from the forgettable one.
Make the future feel inevitable, and the path to it undeniable.