Massive Growth or Profitable - Those Are the Options
January 22, 2026
The new World of AI has changed investor expectations for startups and that is making survival more and more binary.
Today, we’re talking about a phrase founders hear a lot during seed fundraising: “I’m in, if you find a lead investor”.
A lot of founders take this as a yes. Unfortunately it’s not a yes or even a soft commit. You should treat it as a no.
When you go back to these investors with a lead, the most common feedback is something like — “sorry, we can only participate with a top tier lead. we’re not familiar with your lead”.
If you do you get a great lead investor, they will bring their friends to fill up the round — removing the possibility for this ‘waiting’ investor to follow once you get a term sheet. Now, any investor with experience would know this — that’s why you have to treat it as a no.
Investors that really want to invest won’t want to wait on others — they will try to secure their spot right away.
