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How a16z ended up investing in us

Founder story on raising $2M from a16z through product traction, not pitching

From the Xiry library · Updated 3 October 2026

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A candid essay by Farza Majeed detailing how he raised a $2M seed round from Andreessen Horowitz without a formal pitch deck or fundraising network. He explains how publicly building and launching ZipHomeschool led to inbound investor interest, regular progress updates, and a subsequent pivot to buildspace. It highlights the value of focusing on shipping and customer momentum over fundraising games.

How it works

Rather than spending time perfecting pitches or networking with investors, focus all energy on shipping a real product and acquiring early paying customers. If the product demonstrates genuine interest and traction (as with ZipHomeschool reaching 50 customers in 4 months), venture investors may reach out directly.

What it's for

  • Learn an alternative fundraising approach based on shipping publicly rather than traditional pitch meetings
  • Structure weekly progress updates with interested venture investors instead of running an artificial bidding process
  • Understand how early customer traction and transparent communication attract inbound investor interest

Features

  • Overview of launching an MVP and securing 50 paying customers in 4 months
  • Screenshots of actual cold correspondence and honest email communications with a16z partners
  • Explanation of doing weekly 30-minute progress update calls with investors while building
  • Story of pivoting from homeschool compliance software to live-streamed classes based on viral traction
  • Practical takeaways on avoiding fundraising distractions to focus entirely on product execution

Pricing

Free to read

Details

Type
other
Category
Business & Money
Topic
Fundraising Advice
Open source
No
Platforms
Web
For
Early-stage founders, solo creators, and engineers curious about raising venture capital without traditional pitching.
Tags
fundraising, venture capital, startups, founder story, buildspace, a16z

Why it was saved

  • @_buildspace, 5 December 2023: Demonstrates that early-stage founders can attract top VC firms like a16z through inbound interest simply by building useful products and achieving customer traction.

Related

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