THE LEAD INVESTOR PROBLEM

Summary from the TLDR Founders newsletter

A founder can fill a calendar with investor meetings and still have no round. "Interested," "keep us posted," and "we could participate" sound positive, but none means an investor will set the terms, anchor the valuation, do the deepest diligence, or give everyone else a deadline. A lead does those jobs. Keep likely leads separate from likely followers, then ask directly whether each fund would actually set the terms. Ten more meetings with followers still leave the lead column empty.