Fundraising Playbook by Tensor Ventures
A tactical guide to raising your round—from first pitch to final close.
Fundraising is one of the most high-stakes and high-leverage moments in a startup’s journey. It’s not just about getting the capital you need - it’s about setting the tone for the next phase of growth, building strategic relationships, and positioning your company for long-term success.
At Tensor Ventures, we’ve supported dozens of deep tech, infrastructure, and frontier startups through early-stage fundraising rounds. This playbook distills what we’ve seen work (and not work) across different geographies, stages, and industries - especially for European and deep tech founders who often face an added layer of complexity.
Whether you're raising your first institutional round or preparing to scale globally, this guide offers a structured path, from refining your story to closing your lead investor, with tactical insights to help you navigate the process with clarity and confidence.
Let’s get to work.
High Level Plan
Pick a launch date
Build traction
Refine story/pitch
Craft and sharpen tools (deck, financial model, supporting data, references)
Get your reps in
Develop investor pipeline
Go! (when you are ready and committed)
Build FOMO/Sense of Urgency
Secure lead
Close
Essential Fundraising Toolkit
Investor Deck
Demo videos
Financial Model
Investor Pipeline
Short form pitch video
Communication templates
Capitalization table
Tokenomics/Token model
Data Room/Supporting Materials
FAQ
KPIs/Traction support
Incorporation and financing docs
Key contracts (customers, employees)
Customer references
Market opportunity details
Product Roadmap details
GTM Plan details
Historical financials
Org chart
Pitch Deck Core Slides
Team
Problem/Desire Statement
Vision
Solution/Value Prop
Traction
Product / Roadmap
GTM Plan
Market Opportunity Detail
Competition - Why You Win
Financial Summary
Sources and Uses of Capital
Fundraising Advice
If possible, get the meeting before you send your deck.
While they are critical to the overall process, they alone will not get you home - the process is holistic.
Fundraising is fundamentally a dialog between the investor and the founders; Ask the question: "any questions?" to draw the investor into the conversation.
The best ones harmonize dichotomies:
Big vision vs excellent short term execution
Excitement-generating, but grounded in reality
What you want to convey in your dialog with investors
That you have a big vision
That you have a good start on execution towards the achievement of that vision
That you have a "mind map" on how you're going to get from A to Z
That you are the best team to do this
That you deeply understand the opportunity set, your customers' needs, and the competitive landscape
That the timing is right
That you have a unique insight into how to solve the problem/meet the need
That you have a competitive edge
Investor Pipeline
Research
Research via Affinity, Signal/NFX et al, Crunchbase, TS Universe, mentors, alums
Social media
Other founders
Filter
By check size/stage
By industry/interest
Watch out for competitive investments
CRM in Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, etc
Connect
Trawl relevant LinkedIn profiles
Set up an investor networking session with your existing investors and connectors
Use targeted forwardables
Target 20-30 first meetings, more if possible
Three Waves: B, then A, then C
System 1 vs System 2:
The importance of first impressions
What's your primary goal in the first meeting with an investor?
VCs rely heavily on System 1 (gut instinct, pattern recognition) in first meetings: we're looking for standout founders, exciting/big vision and market opportunity, exceptional traction.
In first meetings:
Set the hook early - say something provocative or exciting in the first two minutes
Punchlines first; details later, unless asked
Investors are often lost in the first two minutes
System 2 comes out in subsequent meetings
It is nearly impossible to turn a VC once they've decided not to invest
Investor Signals
Good
They lay out a clear and transparent process with milestones towards the next steps.
They have a thesis about your space before you arrive and agree with your approach.
Following the initial pitch, they are clearly doing their work.
They quickly schedule follow-up meetings with more senior people.
Bad
If they're not moving quickly, it's probably a "no."
They know a lot about your space and don't respond positively in meeting.
They don't ask a lot of questions/engage.
You can't get past the associate.
Tactics
Keep the funnel moving together wherever possible.
Create the perception of momentum with the semi-bluff, but don't lie.
"We are starting partner meetings next week."
"A number of firms have entered into due diligence."
Keep on turning over good cards.
Dole info out intelligently.
Generally speaking, keep investors separated until you've signed a term sheet.
Special Considerations for Deep Tech Founders
"Investor-Founder Fit" is super critical.
Dilution management is much harder.
Be very granular and clear about pre-launch technical and product milestones.
Make sure your investor understands and agrees with these milestones.
Make sure you and your investor agree on the multi-step/milestone and funding plan.
Leave yourself plenty of buffer in terms of both capital and time.
Leverage grants, especially in the EU.
Strategic money is often available, but be sure you understand the strategic investors' motivations, politics, and capabilities.
Special Considerations for European Founders
As a broad generalization, European investors are more conservative and valuations are lower than in the USA...
Yet, there are relatively few US pre-seed and seed investors who spend time in Europe.
Look for European investors with strong ties to US investors and who have a track record of getting their portcos money from the US.
Concrete traction is super important.
Clear evidence that you can sell outside of your home jurisdiction is critical.
You should be able to network into at least 20 warm introductions before you come to the US.
Ideally you're a Delaware C-Corp (but this has its drawbacks, too).
Bridging to America
The Dos and Don'ts of Accessing the US
Building a Global Industry Champion is HARDER:
World Class TALENT EU/US
Deep sources of CAPITAL US
Massive addressable market of CUSTOMERS US
Durable, multi sourced SUPPLY CHAIN EU
To WIN, you must bridge to the US:
Large, UNIFIED market
High willingness to ADOPT new tech
Deepest CAPITAL markets in the world
High appetite for RISK
Extensive EXPERIENCE in massive scale
Prepare, prepare, PREPARE:
Know what they care about BEFORE the meeting.
Start with the HOOK, don't bury the lead.
SOLVE PROBLEMS, don't explain technologies.
Do you increase REVENUE or reduce COST?
Show data that they care about. What KPIs matter?
Fast, succinct FOLLOW-UP:
Don't leave the meeting without clear ACTION ITEMS and DUE DATES
Demonstrate consistent speed and RESPONSIVENESS:
Less than 24 hours is ideal
Less than 48 hours is acceptable
Less than 72 hours is expected
A few more things...
Stay tight with a trusted mentor with significant fundraising experience, especially once you get into the process. There are a lot of ways to screw things up or wind up with a sub-optimal outcome.
Use your lawyers and make sure they are good. This is one time not to skimp on legal fees.
Fundraising is never easy, but it is learnable, repeatable, and optimizable.
Approach it like a campaign. Get organized. Build momentum. Communicate clearly. And above all: don’t do it alone. Lean on your advisors, your investors, and your peers. They’ve been there before.
At Tensor, we’re here to be in the trenches with you. If you’re building in deep tech or infrastructure and want a partner that thinks long-term, get in touch.
Now go raise that round, and build something extraordinary.