Comment by acjohnson55

I think most founders (understandably) don't know how the capital marketplace works, and so they create these codebooks for translating the things VCs say into a mental framework that makes sense to them. I don't know what the answer is, other than simply building the right company at the right time. There are people who are very good at navigating the fundraising space, but that usually comes from having expertise and/or connections prior to founding a company. Once you are in the middle of trying to start a company, it's a little late. Your best bet is to find a way to demonstrate that you're on to something big, then find people who can see that she vouch for it.