Negotiate Anything Stop Chasing Investors — Make Them Chase You
Mar 4, 2026
Chris Hutchins, investor and product leader who teaches strategic fundraising. Cindy Englefield, serial entrepreneur and angel investor focused on backing women founders. They discuss de-risking pitches, creating urgency and momentum, engineering competitive processes to make investors chase you, prioritizing the right terms, and building investor communities and trust.
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Leverage A Diverse Advisory Committee
- Insight: Using a diverse advisory and investment committee spreads due diligence workload and increases investor confidence.
- Cindy handpicked ~15 advisors across industries so collective expertise de-risks decisions and builds trust.
Be Honest With Friends And Family Investors
- Do be brutally honest with friends and family about risk and present realistic, defensible numbers rather than a hockey-stick projection.
- Cindy recalls her father wrote her first check and stresses proof of concept, revenue, and traction before strangers invest.
Avoid Investors Who Demand Excessive Control
- Do walk away from investors who seek excessive control or create distrust; 'not all money is good money.'
- Cindy recalls an entrepreneur turning down $1M because the investor demanded too much control and dilution.