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The Hidden Costs of Investor Relations Nobody Warns You About

Forget everything you think you know about investor relations. Seriously. Throw it out the window. The advice they give you in books and podcasts? It's mostly garbage. I learned that the hard way. I failed at fundraising 14 times before I finally cracked the code. Fourteen times. That’s a lot of rejection, a lot of wasted time, and a lot of sleepless nights.

I’m Sahin Boydas, and I’ve been in the Silicon Valley trenches for over a decade. I’ve built and sold two companies, RemoteTeam to Gusto and MovieLaLa to Gfycat. I’ve also been on the other side of the table, writing checks as an angel investor to over 200 startups, including some you might have heard of like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I’ve seen this game from every possible angle, and I’m here to tell you that the conventional wisdom on investor relations is not just outdated, it’s dangerous.

The Myth of the "Always Be Closing" Founder

The old playbook tells you to be a fundraising machine, constantly schmoozing, networking, and updating your investors. They tell you to send out monthly newsletters with vanity metrics and happy talk. The idea is to keep your company "top of mind" for the next round. It sounds logical, right? Wrong. It’s a trap.

I tried this with my first company. I spent hours every week crafting beautiful investor updates. I went to every networking event. I had coffee with anyone who would take a meeting. The result? I was exhausted, my product was suffering, and my investors were still surprised when I told them we needed more money. I was doing a lot of relating, but none of it was translating into actual investment.

The New Rules of Investor Relations

The game has changed. Investors are smarter, faster, and have access to more data than ever before. They don’t need your fluffy newsletters. They need to see results. Here’s what I do now. It’s a simple framework, but it works.

• Shut up and build. Your number one job as a founder is to build a great product and get customers. That’s it. If you do that, the money will follow. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s the absolute truth. The best investor update is a product that’s flying off the shelves.
• Be brutally honest. When you do need to communicate with your investors, be direct. No sugarcoating. If you’re having a problem, tell them. They’re on your team, and they can’t help you if they don’t know what’s going on. I once had to tell my investors that we were going to miss our revenue target by 50%. It was a tough conversation, but they respected my honesty and we worked together to find a solution.
• Ask for what you want. Don’t beat around the bush. If you need an introduction, a new hire, or more capital, ask for it. Your investors are busy people. They don’t have time to read between the lines. A simple, direct email is far more effective than a long, rambling update.

The Real Costs of Bad Investor Relations

The hidden costs of doing investor relations the wrong way are massive. It’s not just about the wasted time and effort. It’s about the opportunity cost. Every hour you spend writing a pointless newsletter is an hour you’re not spending on your product or your customers. Every ounce of mental energy you waste trying to spin bad news is energy you could be using to solve the actual problem.

I’ve seen it happen over and over again. Founders get so caught up in the fundraising game that they forget what they’re actually supposed to be doing: building a business. They start making decisions based on what they think investors want to see, instead of what’s best for the company. They chase vanity metrics, they hire too fast, and they lose focus. It’s a death spiral.

My Fundraising Timeline: A Case Study

With RemoteTeam, we took a completely different approach. We raised a small seed round from a handful of angel investors who believed in our vision. Then we went dark. We didn’t send a single investor update for almost a year. We just focused on building the best damn remote work platform on the planet.

When we were ready to raise our Series A, we didn’t have to beg. We had a great product, a growing customer base, and a clear vision for the future. We put together a short, direct deck, and we had multiple term sheets within a week. We didn’t need to "warm up" our investors. The results spoke for themselves.

We used convertible notes for our seed round, which I highly recommend for early-stage companies. It’s a simple, fast, and founder-friendly way to get your first checks in the door. For later rounds, we considered revenue-based financing, but ultimately decided to go the traditional venture route. The point is, there are more options than ever before. You don’t have to follow the same old script.

Stop Relating, Start Building

So, what’s the bottom line? Stop worrying so much about investor relations. Stop trying to be a master networker. Stop writing those damn newsletters. Instead, focus on what really matters: building a great product, delighting your customers, and creating a business that’s built to last. If you do that, the money will come. I promise.

Now, go build something amazing. '''

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the most common pushback you get on this?

People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.

How has this view evolved over time?

My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.

What experience informs this perspective?

This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.