How do founders fundraise in the AI era with no network or experience?

Question

Not looking for the "just save up" answer.   I'm trying to understand the actual mechanics.  I see a lot of people announce a raise but it's never clear how it happens early on.

I've got an idea I believe in and want a small team, a couple of devs, and enough runway to keep it running.  How do I actually go about raising, and what should I do before reaching out to investors?

Juan Francisco Verhook · Answer

Real talk, a few points here:

1/ Raising is harder than it looks right now.  Angel or VC, doesn't matter.  Everyone's drowning in AI pitches that sound the same.  Capita's gotten veeeery cautious.

2/ Building was never the hard part (now even easier).  Selling is.  "I'll spam TikTok for 6 months isn't a GTM strategy, and any serious investor will clock that instantly.  That answer alone can sink you. |

3/ Flip the order.  Don't raise to build.  Build to raise.   Ship a scrappy product with one core feature (doesn't need to be pretty).  Then go find a handful of people who would ACTUALLY pay for it.   Real traction, even tiny, is the only thing that makes an investor lean in.

4/ If you get there, be surgical about your pitch.  VCs aren't interchangeable.  They each have a thesis.  Spraying 100 generic emails gets you 100 no's.  Ten targeted one who already care about your space gets you a conversation.   Intros are always better though.

5/ You don't need a network to start (obviously helps if you do).  You need proof.

Build the proof and the network comes to you.  Good luck man!

Andres Gomez · Answer

Hate to be the one to say it, but those devs aren't happening yet.  Hiring takes money you don't have, and unless there's a connected network behind you, that's just the reality early on.  Could be a while before you bring anyone on.

So plan around it.  You're the team for now: building solo, unpaid, at least until there's an MVP people can actually touch.  The only real shortcut is a technical co-founder, but good luck pitching that with just an idea in hand.  Nobody bets their nights and weekends on a concept.

One mote thing and it matters most: if you do find that co-founder, you have to be able to say what this app does.  Whole post, and I still don't know what you're building.  That's the actual first job, not devs and not funding.  Make it land in two sentences or none of the rest matters.

CPO, New York, NY · Answer

Investors don't fund ideas, they fund proof.  You're trying to skip the exact step that makes a raise possible.   Nobody serious cuts a check for an app concept.  They cut it for the app with 200 users who keep coming back.  Order matters here.

So big picture:  build a rough version yourself, get it in front of 20-50 REAL users, see what they actually use, sharpen it.  Once people keep coming back, that's the pitch.

200 active users, 40% weekly retention.  This opens doors no deck ever will.

Henry Waltz · Answer

When you raise, the deck often stands in for the network and track record you don't have yet.

Flow beats everything: problem --> solution --> traction (real numbers) --> market --> team --> ask.  Under 12 slides, minimal text, clean design.   Investors see hundreds, ugly ones get closed before they're read.

But the deck only frames the proof, it doesn't replace it.  No traction, no deck saves you.

CEO, New York, NY · Answer

2x founder here, raised $1M last company (acquired).   My first angels all came from X.  Most I never met, some I never called.  Just DMs and email.  Gotta be cautious of course, and if you can meet them IRL better too.

So no network matters less than you think.  But you have to be funding-ready first: deck, projections, basics buttoned up.  Reaching out raw just burns the contact (did this too once).

And you've set up an LLC or C-Corp (recommended for fundraising), there's a whole other lane most people sleep on: business credit, grants, accelerators.

Angel & Advisor, Coral Gables, FL · Answer

From the check-writing side: at pre-seed with no track record, I'm betting on you and traction, nothing else.  Before you reach out, have something live, even a rough MVP with 10 people using it.  "I have an idea" gets a fast no.   "I built this" and people already want it gets a meeting at least.  The mechanics are simple with proof and impossible without it.

Founder & GP, New York, NY · Answer

Skip the raise as long as you can.  AI tools mean you can build the first version for basically no cost.  Ship something real, get a few users, then the conversation with investors completely changes.   You're not selling a dream, you're showing momentum.  The cheapest capital is proof.

Founder & Brand Designer @STUDIOZ, Tirane, Albania · Answer

If you are in the idea stage you need validation and sign some LOI. Basically you run interviews with real people to understand how they are solving that problem, once you understand that you present your idea as a suggestion, like "if I were to design something that will solve that problem much easier, would you pay?" if they say yes, sign the LOI, basically they are signing to be the first users once you have an MVP, they can even pay a deposit at this stage. That is proof for investors people want this and for you to start building. 
If you have the MVP, start selling then raise once you have meaningful traction. At this stage Angels will bet on you more than proof. But proof is definitely needed.

Student & Aspiring Founder, Washington, DC · Answer

Build something small first.  Talk to 50 founders in your space, get feedback, show traction.  That's your network.  Then some will refer you to investors.  Nobody funds an idea anymore, especially from nobody.  Get to $5-10k MRR or real usage.  Then doors start opening.

Founder & CEO, New York, NY · Answer

Friends and family first.  You don't need a network to raise from people who know you.  Start there, hit your milestones, then institutional.  The mechanics are:

Traction -> familiarity -> check size.   Skip the first and you're cold calling/emailing for 6 months.  Build product first, raise second.

Founder & CMO, Coral Gables, FL · Answer

Stop thinking about raising.  Think about desperation.  If you don't need the money, nobody invests.  If you do need it and have traction, everyone does.

Bootstrap as far as you can, hit a wall that only money solves, then raise.  That's when your pitch actually matters because you're solving a real problem, not pitching a dream.

How do founders fundraise in the AI era with no network or experience?

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