Emerging VCs often feel pressured by their LPs to deploy capital quickly. However, this leads to rushed, unwise decisions. The superior strategy is to act like a sniper: wait patiently for a high-conviction opportunity and be ready to act decisively, rather than investing broadly just to show activity.
Investors fixate on selecting the right companies, but the real money is made or lost in the decision of when to sell or hold a winning position. The timing of an exit can create a 100x difference in outcomes. Having a disciplined approach to portfolio management and liquidity is more critical to fund performance than the initial investment choice.
Many founders delay pricing discussions until Series A, but this is a mistake. Establishing a commercial model and value capture strategy from the pre-seed stage is crucial. If you don't charge appropriately from the start, you train your early customers to undervalue your product, making it harder to scale monetization later.