Advertise on podcast: Funded | How They Raised Millions

Cold outreach fails when it makes an investor ask, “If this deal is so good, why did it reach me cold?” Jason breaks down the situations where cold outreach can work, including travel, real calendar density, and the rare company whose traction speaks for itself. He also explains why warm introductions should still make up most of a fundraise and why a VC saying “we accept cold decks” does not mean cold is equally useful for every founder.

AI isn't just changing how fast startups build. It's changing who can build, how companies find product-market fit, which software moats survive, whether building in public still makes sense, and what kinds of businesses are worth starting. Jason works through the implications for cofounders, community-led distribution, feature-sized startups, product development, and why waiting for the AI landscape to settle is the worst move.

Fundraising advice often assumes every founder starts with the same level of credibility. They don't. Jason breaks down two paths: the founder with a built-in credibility halo who can run a targeted process, and the first-time founder who needs volume, calendar density, and competitive dynamics to overcome doubt. Knowing which category you're in changes how you should build your investor list and run the round.

Before your next fundraise, your existing investors need to believe the next-round story too. Jason explains how to shift from purely asking for help to sharing milestones and momentum that make your current backers excited enough to introduce you, talk about you, and carry the story into rooms you're not in. The investors on your cap table can be more than advisors; managed well, they can become part of your fundraising distribution.

Working on your narrative isn't just about making a better pitch — it's about exposing the gaps in your company. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason breaks down why the holes in your story are actually a roadmap for what you need to go build. If your narrative is begging for traction, go get traction. If it's begging for a co-founder, go find one. The best version of your pitch is the best version of your company — and this episode shows you how to use one to build the other.

Most founders treat their pitch deck like a list of data points investors will absorb from start to finish. That's not how it works. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason breaks down the concept of narrative flow — why you have to constantly re-earn an investor's attention, how to know where to start based on your industry, and what the goal of every deck should actually be (hint: it's not a yes, it's an 'I need to learn more'). If your deck isn't making investors nod along, this episode explains why.

Every VC you pitch wants you to be great. Not because they're generous — because your success is their success. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason shares a quote that reframes the entire investor relationship, and breaks down what it means for how you show up in pitch meetings. When a VC asks you hard questions, that's not a bad sign — it's the opposite. Here's how to stop getting defensive and start using those moments to your advantage.

Venture capitalists who say they love cold email aren't lying — but they're not telling the whole story either. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason breaks down the three types of founders who reach out cold, why VC cold submission forms mostly work for the best and worst founders, and why the messy middle — the founders who need that first leap of faith the most — are the ones cold email fails. If you've been debating whether to go warm or cold, this episode will make the answer obvious.

Not all advice is created equal — and bite-sized content on Twitter or LinkedIn was never meant to be followed word for word. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason gets candid about his own content, why his takes are always directionally accurate but never fully comprehensive, and how founders should be filtering and applying advice they find online. He also shares why leaving a kind comment for a creator you follow might matter more than you think.

Founders almost never cut their narrative far enough. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason shares a lesson from one of the best negotiators he’s ever seen — push all the way to the line so you know where it is. Applied to pitch narratives, that means going so simple it feels dumb, and then layering complexity back in from there. If you’ve been gradually trimming your story and wondering if you’ve cut enough, this episode will change how you approach it.

A lot of founders treat storytelling and hard data as two different things in a pitch — and that’s the mistake. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason breaks down why your numbers mean nothing without a narrative wrapped around them, and why letting investors interpret raw data on their own is one of the most common pitching errors he sees. If you’ve ever wondered how much to lean on story vs. facts, this episode reframes the question entirely.

Venture capitalists don't have a perfectly indexed CRM in their heads. They run on recency bias — last in, first out. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason breaks down what he realized after bumping into a top VC at a cafe in San Francisco: investors share what’s freshest in their minds, not what’s most relevant. He explains what that means for how founders should think about messaging, surface area, and staying top of mind — without being manipulative about it.

Most founders make the same mistake when reaching out to their network during a fundraise, they try to combine a personal connection with a business ask in the same email, and end up doing both badly. In this episode of The Backchannel, Jason breaks down why blended emails feel disingenuous, and introduces his email appendix format: a simple structural shift that separates the personal from the functional so both actually land. If you’ve ever sent an awkward “hey, how’s your summer going, by the way I need a favor” email, this one’s for you.

Too many founders think they need capital before they can make real progress — but that's exactly the mindset that keeps them stuck. In this episode, Jason breaks down the "parked car" trap: why waiting for funding before moving forward is the wrong approach, and how to start building momentum now so investors see a moving train, not a standstill. If you're preparing to raise your first round, this one's for you.

On this episode of Funded, Mohak Nahta, founder and CEO of Atlys, returns three years after his first appearance to share what building a real business actually looks like after the Series A. He talks about pivoting hard from B2B to B2C, navigating investor skepticism in the age of AI, and why the TAM slide he thought was airtight kept working against him. He also gets brutally honest about the mistakes most founders never admit — the soft signals he ignored, the wrong investors he kept engaging, and the weak spots he defended instead of owned. It's a rare look at what it takes to raise at scale when the stakes — and the scrutiny — are much higher.