Investors now sit in on live prospect calls during fundraising diligence
## Investors now sit in on live prospect calls during fundraising diligence Forget reference calls. VCs are asking founders to pitch real buyers while they watch. Amanda Robson, GP of Modern Technical Fund, introduces founders to prospects in her network who have never seen the product. Then she sits in on the pitch as a fly on the wall. The shift is straightforward: reference calls are backward-looking. They tell you who already bought, not who would buy. Existing customers like the founder, they have favorable early-adopter contracts, and they want the company to succeed. They are incentivized to give a rosy review. A live buyer has no skin in the game. Their feedback is raw and objective. ### Why it works **It tests real positioning.** Can the founder clearly articulate what problem they solve, why it is urgent, why it is different, and why now? Watching someone lead a call and someone react to it in real time tells you more than a 15-minute reference call ever will. **It measures urgency-to-budget.** The most critical question in diligence is not "Does this work?" It is "Is this a priority?" By watching the pitch, the VC can see exactly where the product sits in the buyer's mental hierarchy. Nice-to-have gets "That is interesting, let us touch base next quarter." Urgency gets "How fast can we get this integrated? Who else are you working with in my industry?" **It removes access bias.** You are not just hearing a polished narrative after the fact. You are watching how the founder handles objections, where they lean in, where they hesitate, and how they adapt. ### What it means for sales teams If your company is fundraising, your sales team needs to be ready. This is not just about the CRO doing reference calls. Your AEs might be running live pitches with investors listening in. Prepare your team: tighten positioning, know your numbers, practice objection handling. Investors are not evaluating the product in a vacuum anymore. They are evaluating how well you sell it to someone who does not already believe. From the founder side, it is also a win. Even if the prospect does not convert, you get immediate market feedback. You learn what resonates, what falls flat, and where the story needs work. This trend aligns with broader 2026 fundraising reality: investors want live traction, not narratives. Companies like Monaco, which recently raised $35M from Founders Fund, are being built for this world: AI-native CRMs targeting Seed and Series A sales teams, emphasizing efficiency and leverage without headcount expansion. The bar for diligence just moved. Sales performance is no longer behind the scenes. It is the main event.