Die, Traction, Die.

There is no worse word to hear while fundraising.

“I love your product, but you are still a little early. Come back when you have some traction.”

There is no worse sentence spoken by a potential investor to a founder.

“I love your product…”

What most founders hear: “I think you have built something amazing. You are smart, and all that work you have done is clearly worth it. Go you!”

What most investors mean: “Of the three things that matter, Market, Team and Product, you have (sort of) nailed the least important. I know it matters most to you, because its the physical representation of all your hard work, but the truth is that the product will most likely change or pivoted, so I’m just being nice.”

“…you are still a little early…”

What most founders hear: “If you just came back next week, everything would have been fine, so give it a couple of weeks and then you’ll be perfect.”

What most investors mean: “You haven’t done much beyond build an MVP, talk to some customers and build a beautiful pitch deck. Which means pretty much nothing, because you haven’t done anything that reduces your risk profile.”

“Come back when you have some traction.”

What most founders hear: “All I need is X downloads or $Y ARR! And then they will 100% invest. After all, thats what they said. Traction.”

What most investors mean: “I know I said traction, but thats just because it’s an easy word that I don’t have to define, and you think you know what it means. Also, you will never ask me to be specific about what I consider traction to be. Truthfully, what I mean is velocity. I want to see real significant growth in a real market. If you can do that, then your risk profile reduces, and I can evaluate if you have an investable business.”