VCs Are Founders Too (And That Changes Everything About Fundraising)

The Pitch Goes Both Ways

Ross Fubini and Leslie Feinzaig just said the quiet part out loud: VCs are fundraising too. They're pitching LPs, competing for deals, and trying to figure out product-market fit for their own firms. The TechCrunch video pulls back the curtain on something most founders never think about—the person evaluating your startup is also being evaluated, and that asymmetry shapes every conversation you'll have.

This matters because once you see VCs as founders of their own businesses, the entire dynamic shifts. They're not gatekeepers dispensing wisdom from on high. They're operators trying to build portfolio companies that will make their own investors happy. Understanding this reframes fundraising from supplication to negotiation between two parties with aligned but not identical interests.

Founder-Market Fit Applies to VCs (And Most Don't Have It)

Feinzaig's point about "founder-market fit" for VCs is more important than it sounds. Just like startups, most VC firms fail. They raise a fund, deploy capital into companies that don't return multiples, and never raise a second fund. The survivors aren't necessarily smarter—they often just had better timing or network effects from previous success.

The parallel to startup founder-market fit is exact. A GP who spent 15 years in enterprise SaaS has genuine pattern recognition for SaaS deals. They know what good looks like because they've lived it. A GP who pivoted from consulting to venture because it seemed interesting? They're learning on your dime, and their LP's dime, and they probably won't figure it out before the fund's 10-year lifecycle ends.

This is why the best investor conversations feel different. When you're talking to someone with real domain expertise, they ask questions that make you think harder about your own business. When you're talking to someone who's still learning the space, they ask questions from a pattern-matching playbook that doesn't quite fit.

Here's what the video doesn't say: most founders can't afford to be picky about investor expertise because they need the money. But if you have options, investor-market fit should be a primary selection criterion. A GP who deeply understands your space will be more useful in board meetings and more credible when helping you recruit or sell. A GP who's learning alongside you will be... well, learning alongside you.

The LP-GP-Founder Chain Explains Why VCs Act Weird

Fubini's comments about building go-to-market strategies for VC firms reveal something founders rarely consider: your investor has a boss too. LPs (limited partners—the institutions and individuals who invest in VC funds) have their own incentives, and those incentives cascade down to affect how VCs evaluate your startup.

An LP investing in a first-time fund manager is taking a huge risk. They want to see differentiation, a clear investment thesis, and evidence of deal flow. This creates pressure on new GPs to develop strong opinions and stick to them, even when the market shifts. It's why you'll meet VCs who are weirdly rigid about stage, sector, or business model—they're not being difficult, they're staying true to the story they told their LPs.

The more interesting implication: VCs are playing a different game than you think. You're optimizing for building a large, valuable company. They're optimizing for returning 3x+ on their fund, which requires a portfolio approach where some investments can fail completely as long as a few hit big. This misalignment isn't malicious, but it shapes every strategic conversation you'll have.

When a VC pushes for faster growth or a more aggressive strategy, they might be right on the merits. But they might also be optimizing for their fund dynamics—they need to see 10x potential in 5-7 years, even if a more measured approach would build a better business over 15 years. Understanding this helps you evaluate their advice appropriately.

What This Means for Your Next Fundraise

The practical takeaway isn't "VCs are bad" or "the system is broken." It's that fundraising is a negotiation between two parties who are both trying to build something, and information asymmetry usually favors the party that's done more deals.

Before you take a meeting, research the GP's background. What did they do before venture? What's their thesis? How many funds has their firm raised? A first-time fund manager will be hungry and engaged but learning. A fifth fund from an established firm will have pattern recognition but might be less hands-on. Neither is wrong—they're just different products.

Ask about their LP base. Institutional LPs (endowments, pension funds) usually mean longer time horizons and more patience. High-net-worth individuals might want faster outcomes. The composition of their LP base affects how much pressure they'll put on you for growth or exits.

And remember that thought leadership and authentic positioning—the things Feinzaig and Fubini mention as important for VCs building their brands—matter for founders too. The best fundraising happens when both parties have done the work to understand what they're building and why, and can articulate it clearly.

The Meta-Game Nobody Talks About

The video is good because it acknowledges something obvious but rarely discussed: venture capital is a business, and like all businesses, it has customers (LPs), products (returns), and operators (GPs) trying to figure out product-market fit.

Once you see it this way, fundraising becomes less mysterious. You're not asking for charity or validation. You're offering a product (equity in your company) to a customer (the VC) who needs to resell it to their customers (LPs) at a markup. Sometimes your product fits their needs. Sometimes it doesn't. Neither outcome is a referendum on you.

The best founders I know treat fundraising like enterprise sales. They qualify investors, understand their buying process, and know when to walk away. The worst founders treat it like a referendum on their self-worth, which makes every "no" feel personal and every "yes" feel like validation rather than the start of a complex, multi-year relationship.

Fubini and Feinzaig get this because they've been on both sides. They've raised capital as founders and as GPs. That dual perspective is rare and valuable. The insight isn't that VCs are just like founders—it's that everyone in this ecosystem is trying to build something, and understanding the constraints and incentives on both sides makes for better partnerships.