The reverse pitch revolution

Forget charm: startups should insist on seeing investor pitch decks

Author

Michael Morgenstern
December 10, 2024

Happy Tuesday Brex community,

For too long, founders have polished their pitch decks and pleaded their case, while investors conveniently skated by on a handshake and a few bullet points. Let’s be honest: a single Zoom call or a cozy dinner doesn’t cut it. You’re effectively marrying these investors, giving them a seat at your table for years to come. Shouldn’t they be required to lay out their credentials, show their track record in black and white, and deliver their own “pitch deck” to earn a place in your cap table?

This is the era of the reverse pitch—a world where investors must articulate their strategies, disclose their performance, and put forth real metrics, just like Founders do, before the deal gets signed. No more vague promises or name-dropping; founders deserve the same level of transparency they’ve long been expected to provide. When it comes to building transformative companies, the stakes are too high to rely on charm alone. It’s time for investors to prove they’re more than a brand logo on a portfolio page—and founders shouldn’t settle for anything less.

Growing together, Michael Morgenstern

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Oren Harnevo and Avi Revivo are the co-founders of HelloCity

HelloCity is a new-generation local discovery platform that helps local businesses get discovered, enables content creators to monetize, and allows consumers to find the best their city has to offer. With a personalized algorithm and short-form video feed combined with engaging planning and booking tools, HelloCity transforms how people discover and interact with food, nightlife, and events, redefining the $140 billion local discovery market.

Ambassadors Perspective: Every day, tens of millions of people seek out and book engaging activities in their communities. Traditional discovery platforms—whether print publications like TimeOut and LA Weekly, local news outlets, or even digital mainstays such as Yelp and TripAdvisor—are quickly giving way to short-form video content. The world is shifting toward video-first local discovery, and HelloCity is at the forefront of this movement. Backed by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs with a proven track record of building successful companies, HelloCity is capturing the market by redefining how consumers find and engage with the best local experiences.

Jesse Heikkilä is the Managing Director & General Partner of Failup Ventures  

Failup Ventures is a pre-seed & seed stage venture capital fund based in San Francisco and Helsinki. They invest in early-stage startups in Future of Work & AI, Digital Infrastructure, Commercial Climate Tech, Future of Consumer and Marketplaces. 

Failup's partners have experience as technical and business founders starting and scaling startups to +$100M in revenue as well as investing 40 companies as angels prior to the fund. 

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Don’t hesitate to reach out,🦾!