Money Moves with Neil Devani 021 Mike Annunziata @ Also Capital on Building and Investing in Deep Tech
15 snips
Feb 25, 2025 
Mike Annunziata, investor and founder who moved from institutional roles to start Also Capital, talks about building and funding deep-tech startups. He recounts fundraising hurdles, hiring world-class engineering teams, and pitching with conviction. Short, tactical stories on founding a hard-tech startup and evolving a pre-seed venture firm.
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Deep Tech Faces High Fundraising Friction
- Hard‑tech founders face higher fundraising friction because investors must learn domain specifics from first principles.
- That causes investors to prefer strategic or domain‑knowledgeable backers over generalist VCs.
Sell The Dream, Then Explain Details
- Do simplify your pitch and sell the upside first rather than over-explaining technical detail.
- Mike advises founders to lead with the dream and answer details only if investors peel back the onion.
Customize Pitches To Investor Type
- Avoid rote deck voiceovers and instead tailor your pitch to the investor's style and priorities.
- Mike recommends knowing your audience so you attract VCs who will be true partners, not numbers on a spreadsheet.