Should pre-seed founders spend time building marketing asset libraries and collateral for future fundraising rounds?
2026-07-13 · Fundraising
Hi,
I love that you and your co-founder are keeping your investor materials lean. A pitch deck, a one-pager, and a POC link are plenty.
But I'm going to give you some tough love on the infographics. Building an asset library for future rounds because you have "breathing room" may make you feel good, but it's not especially helpful. It's premature optimization.
A serious investors doesn't care about polished collateral, beautiful design, or perfect branding. They care about traction. They want to see what you've actually proven, not how pretty your future plans look.
If customers want what you have, they will break down your door, leap over broken links, and beg you for more. If they don't want what you've got, changing the color palette or making a gorgeous infographic won't make a bit of difference.
Keep your evening hobby - but don't think of it as much more than a hobby. Be especially careful not to mistake it for startup progress. Every ounce of your strategic energy right now needs to be focused on colliding your product with reality and getting those early construction pilots validated.
Save the asset library for when you actually have assets to brag about.
Public Hand Raises only. Questions anonymized; answers are Marc Randolph's mentorship responses with names redacted.