Founders, is it worth building relationships with investors before you raise?

Yes. If you spend enough time with us, we will know you and your business idea much better than if you come in cold. We see so much deal flow we have to build filters at every stage and may never get to that level of understanding otherwise.

But don't expect us to invest just because we've built a relationship. Our job is to make cold, hard decisions with a view to maximising returns. It helps to know and like you but that can't be the basis of our decisions.