Don’t start a startup. Unless you’re obsessed with it.

That’s the advice from Ondrej Bartos, General Partner at Credo Ventures. Not because startups aren’t exciting. But because venture-scale companies demand something extreme: obsession.

Here’s what founders often misunderstand about pre-seed investing.

1. Investors don’t fund small outcomes

At pre-seed, your product is unfinished. Your traction is early, your numbers are fragile. That’s fine.

What isn’t fine is small ambition. When investors ask, “How do you get to $100M ARR?”, they’re not looking for perfect math. They’re testing whether you see a path to a large outcome. Venture capital only works if the upside is big. If your vision feels local, incremental, or capped — the answer is usually no.

Magnitude is the filter.

2. They’re betting on you, not the idea

Ideas pivot, markets shift, strategy evolves, but the founders stay.

Investors observe how you think, how fast you move. How clearly you articulate the problem and how quickly you refine your story. Speed and clarity signal something deeper: agency.

At pre-seed, execution velocity is often more important than product polish.

3. Clarity beats inspiration

A big vision doesn’t mean dramatic storytelling. It means structured thinking. Maybe these questions can help:

Who is this for?
Why now?
Why you?
How big can this realistically become?

Founders who can answer these calmly and coherently stand out immediately. Fuzzy thinking kills confidence faster than missing features.

4. Smart money isn’t loud

Many founders equate “smart money” with access — big networks, warm introductions, fast doors opening. But real smart money is about mindset. It stays calm when progress slows down. It doesn’t push out of anxiety. And it doesn’t make difficult moments harder than they already are.

The best investors don’t just add value, they avoid adding damage.

5. Trends change. The bar doesn’t.

We are in AI era, markets evolve, cycles shift. But investors still look for the same core signals: big ambition, bold thinking, meaningful impact, and a vision that stretches far beyond v1.

Technology moves fast. Expectations don’t move down.

Before asking, “Can I raise?”, ask yourself: if this works, how big does it get? Venture capital is built on asymmetry, it only works if the outcome is large. That requires obsession, resilience, and uncomfortable ambition.

Remember: don’t do it unless you’re ready to build something truly big. 🚀

🎧 Listen to the full podcast episode here: 

LaunchPod is part of the initiatives developed by Launch Romania. Launch Romania is an initiative of How to Web, in partnership with BCR, with the support of media partner start-up.ro.