There’s a widespread belief among founders that venture capital is a precursor to success. It is true that VC is a common denominator of the most successful tech startups, but it isn’t a prerequisite, especially at the early stages.
When I used to write for Wired, a cold email was the lowest probability way to get press, but it still worked with some regularity. Cold emailing a VC is a similarly low-percentage play, and many of the best VCs in the world advise against the practice. Still, it does work from time to time.
In my role at a venture capital firm I have the good fortune to see a few dozen pitch decks a month. Some are brilliant, and others require more time to bake, but almost all of them waste the first slide.
David Pierce has written an excellent post-mortem recording the last days of a hardware startup called Doppler Labs. The post carefully details all the challenges in launching a consumer product, and Doppler Labs co-founder Noah Kraft provides a colorful summary of the experience: