Learn the 3 core pillars investors care about—Money, Momentum, and Market—and how founders worldwide can use them to build fundable startups.

July 25, 2025

Lorde Astor West 🐢 Contributor, Founder & CEO RadHash

The brutal truth about why some founders get checks and others get ghosted.

Ask any investor and they’ll give you a checklist. Red flags. Gut tests. Founder vibes. But here’s the truth most won’t say out loud:

There are only three things that matter when it comes to deal-making. And if you don’t know them cold, you're not raising — you're auditioning.

No amount of storytelling, branding, or vision-board manifesting will fix it if you can’t answer these three things.

1. Money — How the Product Actually Makes It

This one sounds obvious, but you'd be shocked how many founders can’t explain their business model beyond “We’ll figure it out later.”

Revenue isn’t magic. It’s math.

• What’s the pricing model?
• How much does it cost to acquire a customer?
• How long before they churn, upsell, or pay again?
• Where’s the margin?

And I’m not talking about slideware theory. I’m talking about knowing, with clarity and conviction, how your product turns $1 into $3 — and how fast.

Investor translation: Do I believe you can generate cash without burning down the runway?

2. Momentum — Proof You’re Not Building in a Vacuum

Social proof isn’t just vanity. It’s currency.

Founders who build in public, who create demand before a product even ships, who know how to gather signal from noise — they win. Why? Because visibility compounds. Because attention is leverage. And because no one funds silence.

Don’t tell me you’re in stealth. Tell me who’s already talking about you.

• Is there a waitlist?
• Are customers beta testing it?
• Are you creating a community or just pitching an idea?

Investor translation: Are people betting on you before I do?

3. Market — The Real Size of the Opportunity and Your Way In

Market size decks are always cute. TAMs in the billions. Hockey stick graphs. The usual theater. But here's the part that matters:

How are you going to break in, wedge your way through, and scale without getting killed by incumbents or buried by burn?

The best founders don’t start big. They start focused. They carve out a beachhead and dominate it. Then they expand.

Investor translation: Do you have a path to scale that doesn’t depend on miracles?

TL;DR — The 3Ms That Matter

If you’re fundable, you know:

• How the product makes money.
• Who’s already watching and buying.
• What the market looks like — and how you plan to take your piece.

Everything else is noise.

VCs won’t tell you this outright — they’ll say “too early,” or “circle back later,” or “not in our thesis.” But what they mean is: You didn’t nail the three.

We’re building a system to help founders do just that. If you’re ready to move from pitch mode to proof mode — let’s talk.