To differentiate hype from reality, seed investors should practice "vibe coding": daily, hands-on experimentation with new developer tools. This provides an intuitive understanding of current technological capabilities, leading to better investment decisions and inoculating them against unrealistic expectations.

Standard "discovery interviews" are often a form of "playing founder." It's arrogant to believe a few 30-minute conversations can yield the deep insights needed to build a game-changing product. True understanding comes from immersing yourself in the customer's work, not just casually interviewing them.

Chaddha's process prioritizes deep relationship-building over transactional speed. He requires at least 10 hours of interaction, including dinners, to gauge a founder's character, respect, and long-term partnership potential, filtering out those just seeking quick money.

To maintain a competitive edge, Mastercard's CEO personally uses rival products like Visa or AmEx. He frames this as "testing out" the competition to understand their user experience firsthand and provide direct feedback to his own product teams.

Move beyond slide decks to gauge a founder's true passion and product quality. By installing and using a product live during a pitch, investors can ask deep, contextual questions and observe the founder's unscripted responses, revealing a level of genuineness a presentation cannot.

Venture capitalist Bruce Booth explains that bankers, lawyers, audit firms, and VCs all have strong financial incentives for a company to go public. This creates systemic pressure that may not align with the company's best long-term interests.

To win highly sought-after deals, growth investors must build relationships years in advance. This involves providing tangible help with hiring, customer introductions, and strategic advice, effectively acting as an investor long before deploying capital.

Top tech banker Michael Grimes immerses himself in a company's product before taking it public. He played hours of Farmville for the Facebook IPO and drove for Uber before its listing, gaining a first-principles understanding of the business that pure financial analysis misses.

To deeply understand your buyer's world, consume the content they consume. A top AE listened to an M&A industry podcast—not a sales podcast—which gave him the credibility and specific language to engage a senior executive. This builds authentic expertise that generic sales training cannot provide.