Fundraising & Equity
Credentials vs Traction: What Actually Closes Rounds
Collated by Harry Prabandham
Curated by Rubric Financial
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The Credential Trap
- Spending half your pitch on where you worked, who you know, and what degrees you have signals one thing: you don't have traction to talk about
- 20,000 people were senior engineers at Google — the credential alone doesn't differentiate you or prove you can build a successful company
- Impressive advisory boards and famous investors don't compensate for zero revenue — investors see through credential stacking quickly
- The strongest pitches lead with what you've built, not where you've been
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