What a $1B founder learned: know your numbers before you pitch VCs
Sasha Orloff has raised more than $1 billion across his companies, and his hardest-won lesson is that fundraising is won in the financials, not the pitch. VCs don't expect perfection, they expect founders who know their runway, margins, and revenue quality cold. He admits he once nearly lost a term sheet because his data room wasn't ready, and says waiting until you're almost out of cash destroys leverage. That frustration is exactly what led him to build Puzzle.