Building a startup is hard.

Figuring out fundraising and venture capital shouldn’t get in your way.

The Quiet Part Out Loud Chris Neumann The Quiet Part Out Loud Chris Neumann

Chris Neumann's Top 10 Posts of 2025

Here are my 10 most popular posts for 2025.

When I launched chrisneumann.com, I committed to publishing a new post and accompanying newsletter every week. No repeats. No missed weeks. No excuses. And for the most part, I’ve managed to do that.

 

Made it to 3rd this week on the consecutive weeks high score board ️‍🔥

 

I also promised my family that I wouldn’t do any work between Christmas and New Years (except in the case of founder emergencies).

So here is my annual unapologetic cop-out: Chris Neumann’s Top 10 Posts of 2025 (just wait until you see this year’s #1…):

 

#10

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Why Won’t VCs Here Invest in Napkins?

Are Silicon Valley VCs really more willing to invest in ideas than VCs in other ecosystems?

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#9

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What’s Going on with Early-Stage Investing?

I have never seen a more bifurcated fundraising environment. What’s going on?

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#8

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American VCs Aren’t the Reason Your Startups are Leaving

Instead of blaming American VCs for “taking” their high-potential startups, ecosystems should stop and look in the proverbial mirror.

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#7

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What’s Going on with Early-Stage Founders?

What now we’re seeing the manifestation of the shift Everett Randle warned about back in 2021.

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#6

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How to Write an Effective Fundraising Introduction Email

What makes an effective fundraising email and how do you create a request-for-introduction or a cold outreach email?

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#5

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Why Do 99% of Startup Accelerators Fail?

Why do 99% of startup accelerators fail to live up to their expectations?

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#4

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Why Do VCs Make Startups Pay Their Legal Fees?

Why do VCs ask founders to pay their legal bills? How common is this practice and what should you do about it?

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#3

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Traveling is an Underrated Superpower

In a world where most of our interactions occur online, a willingness to travel is a superpower.

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#2

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Canada is pissed. So what?

This weekend, the U.S. shattered the trust of an entire nation. And Canadians are pissed.

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#1

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How to Setup a Minecraft Bedrock Server on a Mac

Here is a start-to-finish tutorial on how to setup and run a Minecraft: Bedrock Edition server on a Mac.

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That’s right.

For all of my time and dedication to writing about startups, the business of venture capital and tech ecosystems around the world, my most-read post of 2025 was about how to setup a Minecraft server 😂.

…that probably helps explain why so many people fell for my April Fool’s Day joke this year 🙃.

See you in 2026! 🥳 🎉 🥂

If you want to read more, check out my lists from past years:

(And if you really want to read more, sign up for my weekly newsletter.)

 
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The Quiet Part Out Loud Chris Neumann The Quiet Part Out Loud Chris Neumann

Chris Neumann's Top 10 Posts of 2024

Here are my 10 most popular posts for 2024.

When I launched chrisneumann.com, I committed to publishing a new post and accompanying newsletter every week. No repeats. No missed weeks. No excuses. And for the most part, I’ve managed to do that.

 

Current streak is heating up ️‍🔥

 

I also promised my family that I wouldn’t do any work between Christmas and New Years (except in the case of founder emergencies).

So here is my annual unapologetic cop-out: Chris Neumann’s Top 10 Posts of 2024 (in reverse order…so there’s a bit of drama):

 

#10

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Let’s Celebrate Risk-Taking!

One of the biggest cultural differences between the US and other countries is the degree to which Americans value and celebrate risk-taking.

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#9

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Know Your Competition

If an investor knows more about your competition than you do, that’s a problem.

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#8

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What Happens After You Sign a Term Sheet?

Here are the steps that occur between signing a VC term sheet and the money being deposited into your startup’s bank account.

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#7

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The Life and Death of Project Stag

There is a startup I cofounded that almost no one knows about. This is the story of Project Stag.

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#6

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Venture Capital’s Changing of the Guard

Venture capital is not broken. But it is evolving.

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#5

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The Times They Are A-Changin’

Ecosystems around the world have been evolving, adapting and reconfiguring themselves post-Covid.

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#4

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It’s Okay to Go Outside

There’s growing evidence that spending time away from work — particularly in nature — not only has a powerful effect on our health and well-being but improves our productivity.

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#3

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YC's Move to 4 Batches is a Win for Founders

Last week, YC doubled the number of batches it's running each year. Here's why that's good news for founders.

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#2

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Why Do VCs Care About Ownership?

Why is ownership percentage such a big deal to VCs?

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#1

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In Silicon Valley, No Answer is an Answer

No aspect of Silicon Valley etiquette is more jarring to newly-arrived founders than the fact that it is culturally acceptable to not reply to emails.

Read more →

If you want to read more, check out my Top 10 Posts of 2023 and Top 10 Posts of 2022.

(And if you really want to read more, sign up for my weekly newsletter.)

See you in 2025! 🥳 🎉 🥂

 
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The Quiet Part Out Loud Chris Neumann The Quiet Part Out Loud Chris Neumann

Chris Neumann's Top 10 Posts of 2023

Here are my 10 most popular posts for 2023.

When I launched chrisneumann.com, I committed to publishing a new post and accompanying newsletter every Wednesday. No repeats. No missed weeks. No excuses.

I also promised my wife that I wouldn’t do any work between Christmas and New Years (except in the case of a portfolio company emergency).

So here is my annual unapologetic cop-out: Chris Neumann’s Top 10 Posts of 2023 (in reverse order…so there’s a bit of drama):

 

#10

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Why Don't VCs Give Feedback?

One of the most frustrating experiences for startup founders is to have multiple calls with a potential investor, only to hear…nothing. Why do VCs act like this?

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#9

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No, You Should Not Give Advisory Shares to Investors

I'm going to be blunt. Angel investors or VCs asking for advisory shares as a condition of investment is not okay. Full stop.

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#8

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Founders Never Forget

It's been nearly 15 years since I founded DataHero. To this day, I viscerally remember how I was treated by each and every investor I met. All founders do.

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#7

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Why Do Pre-Seed Investors Ask for Side Letters?

I was recently asked by a founder to explain why early-stage VCs ask for side letters when investing using SAFEs. “Isn’t the point of a safe that it’s a standard agreement?”

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#6

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Stop with the Fake FOMO

Countless stories have been written about founders using FOMO to catalyze a fundraising process to stratospheric heights. What too many founders misunderstand is that FOMO only works when applied to a well-run fundraising process. It’s not a replacement for actual investor interest.

And it’s not something you can fake.

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#5

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To Create More Canadian VCs, We Need More Canadian LPs

If we want to pour rocket fuel on Canadian tech, we need to make it easier for the next generation of Canadian investors to start their own funds.

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#4

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What is Appropriate VC Diligence?

Founders get a lot of VC diligence requests during fundraising. Here are 6 examples of appropriate VC diligence requests and 6 examples that should set off your alarm bells.

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#3

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Why Market Matters Most to VCs

The uncomfortable truth is that the majority of startup ideas are fundamentally not a fit for VCs. And it’s because of the size of the market that they’re going after.

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#2

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VC (Probably) Isn't Right for You

Monique Woodard of Cake Ventures, Marvin Liao of Diaspora Ventures, advisor Mike Sigal, Web Summit host Casey Lau and I recently met with startup founders across Scotland. The one topic we kept returning to? The fact that VC isn’t right for 99% of startups.

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#1

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Why Aren't There More VCs in My City?

I’m very vocal about the fact that Canada is severely lacking in early-stage venture capital. Yet despite that, I don’t believe that we will see a sudden explosion of home grown venture capital firms. Nor should we want one.

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Thanks for reading!

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See you in 2024! 🥳 🎉 🥂

 
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