[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 9: Stop chasing money, it just makes you look desperate.

There's a saying in the investor community: if you're not chasing a deal, it's probably not a good one.

Think about that for a minute.

Investors understand that the best deals are quick to oversubscribe -- and they've got to fight for an allocation on the cap table.

Having met thousands of entrepreneurs over the past few years, I've heard a few phrases that instantly set off alarm bells in my head.

Founder: "We're raising our seed round and expecting to close it in the next 90 days."

Um, what? I've seen deals close in a week. Sometimes three weeks. Nothing takes 90 days. You sound like you're not trying hard enough. Or, worse, you're not good enough to close anything.

Founder: "Happy to meet you any time you're available."

Wait, so you have nothing else better to do? (Read: don't you have customers to keep you busy or are you really doing nothing else at all?)

Founder: "We're looking to raise something between $X and $Y."

Huh? You don't know exactly how much money it'll take to hit your next real business milestone?

Founder: "WE DID ALL OF THIS JUST THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH!"

Shit. Being lucky isn't the same as building a business. Please, please, please tell me you've at least started trying other tactics to grow the business.

Look, here's the thing: the best founders know how to humblebrag. (And that's something we train in our pitch deck teardowns.)

You should be leading every conversation with an investor (and perhaps customers too) with factual statements around your business. Preferably namedropping other notable people that are using your product or investing in your company.

If you focus on building a business, don't be surprised when money starts flowing your way.

-P