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Founders! Stop saying these things in VC meetings. Most founders waste their time in VC pitches—even VCs don't want to hear half the stuff they say. So here are a few things I always suggest not saying in a pitch. by Sahil S(the venture crew) 1. "We're aiming for a $20M-$100M exit." Might be your real plan—but most VCs will mentally check out. It signals small thinking and a build-to-sell mindset, which doesn't move the needle for big funds. 2. "We're a bit burnt out after doing this for years." I feel you. But say this to a VC, and that's not a sign of founders they want to invest in for the next 5–10 years. 3. "We need the money to get sales and marketing going." While logical, again, this isn't what VCs want to hear. They want to know you already have at least a tiny core revenue engine going, and the capital is going to feed it. Don't start it. 4."Our CAC is leaving." Important to know. Disclose it. But have a plan in place to address it before you pitch VCs. 5. "We need a lot of money because our burn rate is pretty high." It's not the VCs' problem if your burn rate is too high. You need to make sure your startup is at least structurally attractive to the VC fund you talk to. Bigger funds like bigger burn rates. But you still need to be structurally attractive. 6. "I don't know all that much about that key competitor." The best founders always know the competition is cold. And respect it. 7. "Our sales are flat but we'll make it up later in the year." Prove it. This isn't the risk VCs want to take. 8. "Our market is pretty small. That's OK if you have some proof you are going to expand it." E-signatures were a $1B market when Docusign started. Today? Signify. Today they are a $38+ market. But you need to show a clear path for your small market to become a very large one. 9. "Our product wins because it costs less than the competition." This rarely wins in SaaS, at least not big. It's not a strong competitive advantage. 10. "Oh those aren't customers, they're trials." Be very careful exaggerating metrics. Don't count trials as customers. Don't count deals that haven't quite closed yet—as closed. Don't blend 3 months of revenue into "Quarterly MRR" to make your revenue look bigger.