> The trick is always to ask them how much they can raise, and do so assuming they raised successfully in the past and that they know VCs.
They don't need to have the ability to raise anything in a B2B setting, if they can answer the alternative question:
"How many customers have you personally signed up for previous software sales".
I'll happily partner with someone who has profitably sold B2B software - having a list of existing contacts in existing companies as well as solid experience going through the entire sales channel is, to me, just as valuable as extracting money from VCs, because I'd rather have the money from customers than money from VCs.
They don't need to have the ability to raise anything in a B2B setting, if they can answer the alternative question:
"How many customers have you personally signed up for previous software sales".
I'll happily partner with someone who has profitably sold B2B software - having a list of existing contacts in existing companies as well as solid experience going through the entire sales channel is, to me, just as valuable as extracting money from VCs, because I'd rather have the money from customers than money from VCs.