Learning sales is one of the best pathways to building wealth

Welcome to the 21st edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter—proudly serving over 2,589 founders! Here, we break down the latest insights from our weekly VC Office Hours sessions on Twitter/X and equip you with tools to help you ‘Get Funded’.

Missed this session? Listen to the recording here.
Want to join the next session? Check out the full list of past and upcoming VCs here.

1. Overview:

This week, we hosted two insightful sessions with our fantastic guest investors:

• Session #1: Bryce Johnson, Investor at Primary Venture Partners

  Primary is New York’s leading early stage firm, with a billion in assets under management and 50 full time employees; writing $2M - $8M checks to lead rounds at the seed stage.

• Session #2: Marina Girgis, Principal at Precursor Ventures

  ​Precursor Ventures is an early-stage venture firm focused on classic seed investing; writing up to $500K initial checks at the pre-seed & seed stage.

2. Office Hours Recap:

• Session #1 - Bryce Johnson, Investor at Primary Venture Partners
  Stage: Seed
  Industry: Generalist (with dedicated partners in Fintech, AI, Healthcare, etc.)

  Check Size: $2M - $8M, targeting 15%-20% ownership
  How to Apply: Start with a first pitch with an associate, like Bryce, who will then pitch the company internally. If there’s interest, founders will meet with a partner, undergo diligence (customer calls, expert feedback), and present to the full investment team for a final decision.

• Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Strong Founder Fit is Key: Investors look for why the founder is uniquely positioned to solve the problem they are tackling. Having deep industry experience, a strong network, or an unfair advantage can help differentiate a pitch.

  • Big Vision Matters: Beyond the details, investors want to see a clear and ambitious vision for where the company is heading. The ability to articulate this concisely is critical.

  • Diligence Process is Fast but Thorough: Primary’s process can take as little as 4-5 days, but they emphasize a deep evaluation, including expert and customer calls, and they prefer to work closely with founders during diligence.

• Session #2 - Marina Girgis, Principal at Precursor Ventures

  Stage: Pre-Seed & Seed

  Industry: Generalist (B2B & B2C Software, Hardware)

  Check Size: Up to $500K for the first check, with potential follow-on funding

  How to Apply: Founders can reach out to Marina via email at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

• Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Invest Early & Move Fast: Precursor Ventures operates at the pre-seed and idea stage, investing in companies before traction is required. They maintain a high-volume approach, making 30-50 new investments per year.

  • Short, Direct Pitches Win: Marina emphasized that founders should avoid buzzwords and get straight to the point when pitching. If traction exists, mentioning it early can help capture investor interest.

  • Market Timing & Vision Alignment – Rather than just solving a problem, successful startups align with larger market trends and shifts. Marina advised founders to think beyond their immediate product and demonstrate how their startup fits into the broader industry landscape.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• The Blue Dot Creative Residency by CÎROC

  An opportunity for storytellers to bring their passion projects to life with up to $200K in funding support.

  Deadline: 2/24/2025

• OSV Fellowships & Grants 2025

  The O’Shaughnessy Fellowships & Grants program unites the world’s most bold and undiscovered researchers, builders, and creatives from all over the world to discover, build, and spread path-breaking ideas and supports their journey with equity-free funding of up to $100,000.

  Deadline: 2/28/2025

• Sengo Sprint Grant

  The $3,000 Sengo Sprint grant aims to support founders who are making a positive impact in their communities and industries.

  Deadline: 2/28/2025

• Black History Makers Grant

  Citi Trends is providing $5,000 grants to acknowledge Black entrepreneurs that are making history in their community.

  Deadline: 2/28/2025

• CTIA Wireless Foundation Catalyst 2025

  A competitive grants program for ambitious social entrepreneurs who have developed mobile-first solutions that enhance our lives and address pressing challenges in American communities; receive up to $100K in grant funding.

  Deadline: 3/4/2025

• Orlando Magic Venture Challenge

  The challenge will provide up to six companies the opportunity to gain up to $200K in funding, partnerships and mentorships.

  Deadline: 3/5/2025

• VOA Futures Fund Community Health Incubator

  A 14-week accelerator with partnership opportunities for ventures in community health that provides a $15K grant and business training to help you scale.
  Deadline: 3/5/2025

• The Builders + Backers Idea Accelerator

  A free, virtual, idea-stage program that takes aspiring founders from concept to first launch, providing $5K in funding.

  Deadline: 3/11/2025

• Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Lab

  Accepted founders receive an equity investment of $250K, a five-month curated program, mentorship, networking, office space for the duration of the program and access to certain external advisors.

  Deadline: 3/14/2025

• Money Moves Summit Pitch Competition

  Compete for a share of the $10K prize pool during the Money Move’s Summit.

  Deadline: 3/14/2025

• Headstream Accelerator

  The Headstream Accelerator provides $30K in support to entrepreneurs to scale the most promising digital solutions that positively impact youth mental well-being.

  Deadline: 3/16/2025

• W.E. Build Accelerator

  The W.E. Build accelerator empowers 8-10 innovative and diverse early-stage entrepreneurs with programing and a $25K non-dilutive grant to create and launch a scalable venture in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

  Deadline: 3/21/2025

• OHUB’s Climate Tech Bootcamp

  A 10-week pre-accelerator program for climate tech and new energy entrepreneurs from around the country that have an interest in building in or expanding to South Louisiana; opportunity to receive a $100K investment.

  Deadline: 3/28/2025

• The MSP Equity Accelerator

  The MSP Equity Accelerator sponsored by Allianz invests $100K each into five high-growth startups founded by undervalued entrepreneurs.

  Deadline: 4/25/2025

Podcast of the Week:

• 20SALES: Carlos Delatorre, CRO @Harness: Why Every Sales Rep Should Do Pipeline Generation

  Carlos Delatorre shares why pipeline generation (PG) should be a core responsibility for every sales rep, not just SDRs. He argues that sales teams relying solely on inbound leads or external demand generation struggle with ownership and accountability. Delatorre breaks down how to structure a sales team for success, the importance of hiring reps with PG experience, and why outbound is far from dead. He also details the structured approach to pipeline generation, how to ramp up sales hires effectively, and the lessons he's learned from his own career in sales leadership.

• Why I recommend it: This episode is a must-listen for founders and sales leaders looking to build high-performing sales teams. Delatorre emphasizes that top reps don’t just close deals—they create opportunities. He provides a playbook for structuring pipeline generation, hiring for resilience, and avoiding common pitfalls in sales hiring and team building. If you're scaling a startup and want a deeper understanding of how great sales teams operate, this episode delivers invaluable insights. You can listen here.

Alternative Funding Sources:

• Access up to $2M in non-dilutive debt financing. Request information here.

• Raise up to $5M in equity capital through a Community Round. Request information here.

• Access up to $50K in AWS & Google Cloud credits. Request information here.

Serac Ventures has made 8 investments in 2024 and is actively reviewing investment opportunities for our 2025 pipeline. We are looking to invest $250K - $500K initial checks into 8-10 companies building in FinTech, SaaS, and the Future of Work in 2025. Founders can learn more and consider submitting their company here.

4. Tweet of the Week:

That’s all for this week’s edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter. We hope you found these insights valuable as you continue your journey to securing funding.

What’s next?

Join us next Friday for two more amazing guests joining us for Office Hours.

​​​​For session #1 we have Cindy Ho, Junior Partner at Stout Street Capital.

​Stout Street Capital is a generalist early-stage investor typically investing $250K in post-product & post-revenue startups based in the US and Canada, reserving $500K - $1M for follow on.

For session #2 we have Belvin Liles III, Venture Innovation Associate at ID Ventures.

​ID Ventures provides up to $300K in investment capital and resources to early-stage, high-growth companies in the Detroit region and throughout Michigan.

If interested in joining and/or pitching, please feel free to register here.

You can see the full list of past and future VCs on this Calendar.

Be on the look out for our newsletter next week where we’ll bring you more actionable advice, resources, and success stories.

Let’s All, Get Funded!

Best,
Darrel Frater
Investor at Serac Ventures
Twitter/X | Linkedin | Preneur

P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a founder you know who could benefit from these insights!

P.S.S. Got ideas or suggestions for Get Funded? Shoot me an email at [email protected] for us to discuss!

About Serac: Serac Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that targets companies at the pre-seed and seed stage writing initial checks between $250K - $500K. Our core sectors include fintech, SaaS, and Future of Work. Learn more at SeracVentures.vc.