Lesson from a € 50 million series B: and why it is important to the level of each startup fund

Before a single slide appears, before opening the opening line of your neatly, a decision is already being made in the mind of the investors.

Over the past few years, I have worked closely with startups in several early stages because they are ready for investors’ conversations, one of which has successfully closed a € 50 million series B round. I also helped other parties get their first appropriate diligence process, the kind of questions that go out of the pitch and the deepens in the deck.

What I learned: Most investors give their initial verdict long before going to the graph and roadmap. They’re not simply not scanning your numbers. They’re evaluating your grip. Five things here are experienced investors almost immediately, often you realized that you were evaluated:

1 Are you founded or simply shiny?

This is obviously when a founder’s confidence starts with their products, teams and timelines, from real busyness, opposite the best version of the story.

Polish okay. However, if your tune is very pre-packed, very rehearsal or seems very defensive during the challenge, it will increase the fine alarm. And when you make it in Series B, you are not selling any dreams. You know what it takes to avoid reality.

2 Do you understand your operational disqualification?

I supported in a Medtech Agency, our view was growth and was truly compulsory technology. However, during the funding process, a sharp investor kept in a detailed details we were already tracking internally: consent timelines after our market. They were not necessarily wrong, but they were hard. This single question led to a wide conversation on whether Team Bandwidth, Operational Realism and our regulatory Roadmap had adequate breathing.

In sectors like foodtech and medtech, where the market access is closely bound with the consent, these types of assumptions can mute your credibility to reduce. A good investor does not object to the risk, but they hate surprises. Show them that you have already mapped your stress points and you have begun to make them quickly around them.

3 Do you know who your product is actually for who and how they buy?

In the early stages, the founders often pitch users who want their products. By Series B, the question is whether you can understand the buyer, the way the collection and the period of earnings.

In controlled industries, this means not only your last user but also your gatekeepers to know: health insurance provider, clinical champions, retail chains and controllers. If you cannot explain your Go-to-Market Mechanics, you are indicating the shallow understanding of your field.

4 Is your deck combine with your decision -making?

It is common to present such a deck to a smooth stress from MVP to scale. However, if under interrogation, your answers betray the violence or disclose decisions that oppose the roadmap, investors will notice.

I could not explain why their timeline was transferred internally when I was caught with the founder I worked. There was no delay in killing confidence. It was pitch and disconnected between the reality of their process.

Remember: Continuity creates credibility.

5 … can you acknowledge what you don’t know?

This is counter, but true: confident founder can say “I don’t know” when needed. They do not shake if asked a difficult question. They show that they are still learning, and they have created a team that complements their gaps.

Investors are not looking for perfection. They are looking for people who can manage stress, adapt quickly and be honest. If you are extra sure about everything, it suggests that you did not go enough to uncover the unknown.

Final Thoughts: The invisible pitch is real.

Your slide deck is important. Your story is important. However, long before that, you are already evaluating on how you are already thinking, how you are handling ambiguity and how your own assumptions are stressed.

For the founders of the high-stake sector such as Foodtech and Medtech, where the regulatory burden is real and timeframes are not forgiven, this awareness is not only helpful. This is basic.

So ask yourself before you make the pitch perfect: If I was on the other side of the table what would I watch?