Should you talk with VCs before you are ready to fund raise?

For me working in VC, it seems stories of short meetings with term sheets scribbled on napkins and agreed upon in minutes are overblown. In reality, most investments, at least in the pre-seed and seed stages, are built upon long-lived relationships with VCs.

Most of the deals signed within days or even hours are done so because the founder and VC/Angel have been in contact on and off for the last year. An investment is a relationship, and it's one that lasts longer than most marriages. It's in your interest, as a founder, to get to know who is investing n you and what their interests are and if they are trustworthy.

So the answer to my question above is that yes, you should always be on the lookout and connect to investors. Most of us love chatting with founders even if we can't invest in them yet.

In fact, if you are an immigrant founder in the UK, we have created an initiative for this. The International Founders Open Office Hours (IFOOP), I know we need to work on the name.

You can read more about it on TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/02/for-immigrant-founders-in-the-uk-office-hours-with-vcs-is-rocket-fuel/

I'd personally also be glad to chat with any founder regarding your experiences in the comment below.