VCs Do Not Care About Revenue (only) | Here’s What Matters While Raising Funds

Founder / CEO - FanTV, love Web3 ethos, established Web2 Founder, largest music streaming app India (175 mn+ users), Produced 250+ songs with 15 bn+ streams

After raising over $200 million at Gaana and investing in dozens of early-stage companies. 

Let me tell you this:
VCs don’t care about REVENUE(Only)

This is what actually matters:

1. Market Size Is Non-Negotiable 

The first thing investors assess is the market. Is it big enough? A small market can support a good lifestyle business. A large market has the potential to support a venture-scale outcome—and that’s what VCs are looking for.

Here’s the reality: owning 1% of a huge market is better than 90% of a niche one. I learned this lesson pitching 100+ VCs. If the opportunity isn’t obvious and expansive, it’s a hard sell.

3. Monetization Isn’t Optional 

"We’ll figure it out later" is a death sentence.
At Gaana, we had a revenue model from day one. Same at PropTiger. And the same thinking is baked into FanTV AI.

Revenue is not something you tack on later. It’s proof that value is being delivered. Growth without monetization is a house of cards.

4. Stand Out or Don’t Bother 

When it comes to competition, you only have two real options:
- Be 10x better
- Be 10x different

Everything else falls into the "death zone"—where your product is too similar to existing players, but not compelling enough to win. Category leaders don’t emerge from the middle.

5. Founder DNA Is Everything 

VCs are not just betting on your idea. They’re betting on you.

Here’s what they’re really looking for:
- Pattern recognition
- Learning velocity
- Execution speed
- Market understanding

Great products can pivot. Great founders adapt faster. If the founder isn’t right, none of the rest matters.

6. The Founder Filter 

Sometimes the market is massive, the product looks perfect, and the business model is sound—but the founder isn’t the right fit. And that’s a deal-breaker.

I’ve seen this firsthand as both founder and investor. The founder is the lens through which everything else is judged.

7. Pitch Insights, Not Just a Business 

Most founders pitch a business.

Smart founders pitch insights.

When you pitch, make these clear:
- Why you?
- Why now?
- Why this will win?

That’s what cuts through the noise. That’s what gets funded.

8. What VCs Are Really Funding 

At the end of the day, VCs don’t fund slides. They don’t fund traction graphs. They fund people who:
- See what others miss
- Execute what others can’t
- Scale what others won’t

Everything else is table stakes.

2. Solve Pain, Not Preferences 

The best businesses don’t create new wants—they solve existing pain. I’ve built three companies on one core principle: market pull beats product push.

Forget shiny features and new ideas. Focus on what hurts. The more urgent and widespread the pain, the more inevitable the demand.