VC Fundraising Is a Human Game: How Investors Sell Trust in 2025
In a market shifting back to founders, top VCs reveal the playbook for building trust, not just transaction volume.
Fundraising isn’t just a founder’s rite of passage—it’s the ultimate test for venture capitalists, too. On a recent episode of Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sat down with Leslie Feinzaig of Graham & Walker and Ross Fubini of XYZ Venture Capital to pull back the curtain on how VCs raise their own funds. Their message is clear: if you can’t articulate your own market fit, you can’t expect founders to trust you with theirs.
For Feinzaig, launching her first fund meant starting from zero. “It was hundreds of pitches. It was raised almost entirely from individuals. We ended up with 105 LPs,” she said. Without an established track record, she treated the process like a massive angel round: the investment was in her, not the fund’s metrics. That outsider grind became her superpower. Today, founders call her before board meetings to rehearse strategy because she earned empathy the hard way—by doing the work, repeatedly, with no safety net. Her tactics shine in a market where authentic credibility beats slick pitch decks. In a market that has swung from VC-favorable to founder-friendly, that earned trust is the true leverage.
Fubini frames the decision process for founders through a simple, human-first rubric: person, firm, terms. “You work with this person for forever,” he says. Are they enjoyable to work with? Do you trust them? Do they have the juice to get the deal done? The firm’s brand and network matter, and the terms dictate the mechanics of the partnership—but the person is the lasting variable. That’s especially critical now. Both VCs pointed to a meaningful shift since the 2022–23 bear market, where investors held all the cards. In today’s more active deal environment, founders have more leverage to choose partners, and that makes fit more consequential than ever. Fubini calls the current pace “thrilling,” noting that when both sides are aligned, diligence is thorough but decisions move fast. Speed without alignment is risk; speed with alignment is momentum.
What does this mean for founders and investors in practice?
For founders:
- Vet the human first. Spend as much time evaluating compatibility as you do valuation. A partner who is responsive, truthful, and calm under pressure will compound value when things get hard.
- Demand proof of execution. Ask for references you choose, not just the ones they offer. Look for track records in your stage and sector—and evidence of follow-through when deals get messy.
- Understand the firm’s incentives. Who is the investment committee? What does the fund economics model mean for their behavior? Alignment here prevents missteps later.
For VCs:
- Build a real go-to-market for your fund. Cold emails and decks don’t build belief; consistent, high-signal thought leadership and founder-first problem solving do.
- Treat LPs like customers. Feinzaig’s 105-LP mosaic proves that without a prior network, your story and reliability are the product. Transparency and cadence matter more than glossy narratives.
- Earn the “pre-meeting” call. Founders should want to talk to you before they talk to their board because your counsel sharpens their thinking. That’s the trust signal that transcends cycles.
The meta-theme: venture is a relationship business where execution builds reputation and reputation builds optionality. As the market tilts back toward founders, the VCs who win are those who can move quickly without cutting corners—and founders who treat fundraising as a partner search, not a price discovery exercise. It’s a reminder that in any market, the best deals are built on trust, clarity, and follow-through—qualities you earn long before the term sheet lands.
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