Raiser's Edge
Some entrepreneurs fly through fundraising; sailing through VC meetings, converting at high rates, getting to term sheets quickly and successfully. Other founders struggle; wading through hundreds of meetings and calls, reading thousands of online pitch guides, and still only producing a mediocre fundraising round. The very best founders seem to know cheat codes that the rest of the herd just lack, and this quickly creates capital advantage for their companies, allowing them to own their markets and achieve dominance in their industries. So what are these secrets that separate the best from the rest? It turns out a lot of what these top raisers do is replicable - it’s just not easy to find on the internet or by asking advice from average peers. Raiser’s Edge bridges that very gap, sharing the strategies and philosophies that have separated industry leaders from the pack in order to transform mediocre raisers to excellent ones. Through interviews with outstanding founders who have themselves succeeded in the VC fundraising process, not only will listeners learn how to successfully fund their start-ups, but they will also learn how to raise strong rounds even in down markets, take advantage of VC funding and tailwinds, and impress investors in order to earn outsize capital. Most importantly, listeners will find out how the most skillful CEOs make it through the biggest challenges so that they can increase their own chances of surviving the challenges to come. Each episode of Raiser’s Edge will interview a founder about the critical fundraising junctures in their company’s growth stage, highlighting stories in which they navigated investor concerns, challenging timelines, and emerging obstacles to raise and deploy funds successfully. By taking a closer look at these entrepreneurs’ paths to success, we’ll also shed a light on their moments of near-failure, self-doubt, and tough calls, and the way these challenges have transformed them into stronger leaders and fundraisers along the way. Through an entertaining, easy-to-follow interview format, this podcast hopes to demystify the fundraising process and serve as an intimate glimpse into the secrets of today’s business all-stars in order to inspire and teach the all-stars to come.
Episodes
Sujal Patel raised $500M+ across two companies by treating curiosity as a fundraising system, not a personality trait.
Sujal Patel is co-founder and CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology (Nasdaq: NAUT). He previously founded Isilon Systems, the storage company he took public before EMC acquired it for $2.25 billion in 2010. In this episode of Raiser's Edge, he walks through the "dumb questions of the day" habit that got him fluent in an ent...
Kevin Bennett raised $200M in an unloved categories — no hot pitch, just a "trust dividend." Here's how it works.
In this conversation with Ben Elowitz, Kevin breaks down the trust dividend: the idea that small, consistent, low-stakes acts of honesty and vulnerability compound into the confidence investors need to fund something unproven. It's the framework he credits for closing rounds in a category VCs initially overlo...
Sean Byrnes raised over $100M across two dozen rounds. His edge wasn’t charisma or connections — it was understanding exactly how investors think before walking into the room.
Sean is the founder of Flurry (sold to Yahoo, 98% market share at exit) and Outlier.ai (exited 2022), a CEO coach, and the author of the Breaking Point newsletter. In this conversation, he makes the case that fundraising is sales — and that m...
Tushar Garg raised over $200M for Flyhomes — one round closed in 30 minutes, another nearly collapsed while his co-founder was hospitalized after being hit by a drunk driver.
Tushar is the co-founder and CEO of Flyhomes, a proptech company that pioneered cash-backed offers for homebuyers. In this episode he traces a full decade of fundraising — from a 30-minute seed term sheet through a $150M Series C he didn't plan for,...
In this episode of Raiser’s Edge, host Ben Elowitz sits down with Stefan Kalb—entrepreneur, investor, and three-time founder, currently building Super Labs, an AI startup focused on transforming how Main Street businesses operate.
Stefan shares his journey from a shy early founder to a more seasoned, “presidential” CEO, including lessons from building Shelf Engine and raising $8M in preempted funding for his ...
Most founders think they have a strategy problem.
In reality, they have a storytelling problem.
In this episode of Raiser’s Edge, Ben Elowitz sits down with David Politis, a multi-time founder (Vocalocity, BetterCloud) who has raised over $300M in venture capital, to break down why storytelling is the most important skill in fundraising.
But this isn’t about clever narratives or polished pitch decks. David explai...
In this episode, host Ben Elowitz sits down with serial entrepreneur Omar Tawakol, whose journey spans building and leading companies like BlueKai, Voicea, and Rembrandt, as well as strategic acquisitions by industry giants like Cisco and Oracle.
So what does it really take to fundraise, lead, and build game-changing startups—again and again? Omar shares lessons learned through market crashes, tough boardroom conversations, an...
On this episode of Raiser’s Edge, Ben Elowitz sits down with Greg Mark, CEO and founder of Markforged and Backflip. Drawing on his experience raising over $550M in capital, Greg Mark breaks down what it really takes to capture investor interest and thrive under intense fundraising pressure.
Greg Mark opens up about the rollercoaster world of startups—from the thrill of being the “Ferrari” in a hot round, to t...
Host Ben Elowitz sits down with seasoned entrepreneur and fundraising expert Evan Kaplan, CEO and founder of InfluxData, and industry veteran with over $400M raised and three decades of experience across public and private companies.
Evan shares how credibility and authenticity are the keys to successfully raising capital for your startup. He builds relationships with his investors step by step—for him, gaining trust isn...
In this episode of Raiser's Edge, host Ben Elowitz dives deep into the realities of startup fundraising with guest David Shim, CEO and co-founder of Placed and Read.ai,
The episode unpacks the critical importance of designing a business to be fundable—not just following trends—and why storytelling and narrative matter, but great metrics matter more. With stories of pre-emptive term sheets and the struggle of pitching to ...
How do top founders actually raise venture capital—and what do investors really look for?
In this episode of Raiser’s Edge, host Ben Elowitz sits down with serial entrepreneur Russ Fradin (Larridin, Adify, Dynamic Signal) for a candid, unfiltered conversation about the realities of startup fundraising and building a venture-backed company that lasts.
With decades of experience, over $1B raised, and board seats across mult...
In this episode, host Ben Elowitz sits down with master fundraiser Dan Shapiro, currently the co-founder of CEO of Glowforge, and the author of Hot Seat: The Startup CEO Guidebook.
From his early days building laser light shows to raising over $200M (and counting) over his startups, Dan reveals how he’s raised capital at every stage by putting data—and his audience—at the center of his strategy. Dan shares...
On our pilot episode of Raiser’s Edge, host Ben Elowitz sits down with Yifan Zhang—a powerhouse entrepreneur, managing director at the AI2 incubator, and expert fundraiser. Yifan shares her unique journey from launching viral fitness app Gympact straight out of Harvard to building Loftium, a proptech startup that weathered unbelievable storms—including losing 90% of its revenue in just four days when COVID hit. Ag...
Are you ready to gain a capital advantage?
Welcome to Raiser's Edge — the podcast dedicated to unlocking the secrets of successful fundraising, direct from the experts.
On Raiser's Edge, Ben Elowitz, your host and a multi-time founder, coach, investor, and advisor, will be interviewing some of the top fundraisers in the start-up world. Hear their stories about the thrill (and agony) of pitching VCs, learn ...
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