Between Startup and Venture Capital - what is the role of outbound?

Introduction

Every founder who has been through the fundraising process knows the questions that are asked in the first few minutes of a meeting with an investor: "What does product validation look like? Who's buying it? What are your customer engagement rates?"

Venture capital funds, on the other hand, review hundreds of pitch decks a month, looking for concrete evidence that the team can not only build a product but also sell it. According to industry research,70% of VC funds pay special attention to early traction, but also: user growth, revenue growth, and product retention and engagement.

The problem is that there's often a gap between vision and execution. More and more startups are discovering that outbound marketing, or systematic, proactive outreach to potential customers, can bridge this gap.

From this article you will learn

• How to use outbound as a market validation tool?
• What is the VC perspective?
• What do VC and startups have in common?

Outbound as a market validation tool

An example would be a case study of a SaaS startup from the voice-tech industry, which faced a typical challenge before its Series A funding round: a lack of a clearly defined ICP and fragmented sales communications to too many segments simultaneously. The startup had groundbreaking AI technology to improve audio quality in real time, but was pressed for time – three months to acquire the first enterprise references before the bridge round.

Instead of intuitive segment selection, the validation process was based on systematic testing of three sales theses:

• Real-time communication platforms(webinars, video conferencing) - value proposition based on competitive advantage through audio quality
• Media and content creators - eliminating post-production work hours and ensuring the quality of LIVE interviews
• Enterprise with desktop applications - SDK integration as functionality for premium products.

Specific validation results:

• 3 validated business hypotheses with a clear indication of which segment responds best
• 3 enterprise leads in the first week of the campaign - proof of value proposition fit
• 1 clearly defined go-to-market strategy ready for presentation to investors

Crucially, each thesis was tested against a different value proposition from "competitive advantage" to "time savings in post-production" to "hardware upgrade to premium." This allowed us not only to identify the most effective copy but also to understand the differences in decision-making processes between segments.

Market data confirms the effectiveness of this approach. According to the report Martal Group from 2025,82% of B2B decision-makers are ready to accept a meeting after a properly personalized cold mailing. What's more, Multi-channel campaigns (email + LinkedIn + phone) generate 22% higher response rates than communication based solely on email.

This proves that a well-designed outbound campaign allows you to obtain feedback in weeks, not months, that would normally require a long process.

Investor Perspective: Execution as a Key Indicator

For venture capital funds, outbound has another value: it is a measure of the team's ability to execute the strategy.

An effective outbound campaign requires several competencies at the same time:

• Deep understanding of the Ideal Customer Profile
• Ability to formulate a value proposition in a way that resonates with a specific segment
• Systematizing in running multi-stage campaigns
• Analytical approach to data-driven optimization

These are precisely the competencies that determine a startup's success in the first years of operation.

Why? Because they come to investor meetings with specific data:

• "Our campaign for segment X achieved an 18% reply rate"
• "Of the 47 interviews conducted, 75% confirmed pain point Y"
• "Conversion from first meeting to demo is 31%"
• "The average sales cycle in this segment is 45 days"

This is concrete evidence of market understanding and the ability to systematically build a pipeline.

Outbound on both sides of the table

What is interesting is that VC funds themselves are currently undergoing a transformation towards proactive sourcing.According to Andre Rettah, Partner at Earlybird, most VC funds are intensifying outbound activities in the area of ​​​​searching for startups.

What does this mean in practice? Instead of waiting for startup applications (inbound model), the funds:

• They actively search for promising projects by analyzing market data
• They use AI tools to identify emerging trends and startups in interesting sectors
• They cold outreach to founders of projects they identify as potentially interesting
• They build networks of sector experts who help with sourcing

The reason for this shift is the growing competition for the best deals. Funds that wait for startups to apply often end up in projects that have already passed the competition's screening process.

This symmetry, startups using outbound for market validation, VCs using outbound-create a common language for finding deals. Both parties understand the challenges of proactive outreach, the value of good personalization, and the importance of measurable performance metrics.

Outbound as strategic infrastructure

From our perspective at Vanderbuild, we see a fundamental difference between startups that treat outbound as a "sales department to outsource" and those that build it as strategic infrastructure for learning about the market.

Startups without systematic outbound They're trapped in a reactivity trap. They have limited control over their pipeline and are dependent on inbound sales or warm referrals. Worse still, they learn about the market very slowly because they wait for the market to provide feedback. When it comes to validating a new segment or testing a changed value proposition, they lack a mechanism to do so in a short period of time.

Startups with a strong outbound infrastructure operate differently. They have mechanisms for testing hypotheses. They can reach specific segments in a controlled manner and measure the response. They collect feedback not from random people who stumble upon their website, but from carefully selected decision-makers from targeted companies.

It's this difference that often determines the negotiating position in investor discussions. A startup that comes with data: "We've tested three segments, enterprise reacts three times better than SMEs, we know why, and we have a pipeline ready to scale" has a fundamentally stronger position than a startup with assumptions and projections.

Common Data Language

Working with founders before seed and Series A rounds, we're seeing a shift in what investors expect. It's no longer "show me traction" in the sense of "show me MRR." It's "prove to me you understand the mechanics of your market."

Outbound, when conducted methodically, provides precisely this type of evidence. It demonstrates whether the team can:

• Precisely define your ICP and reach the right people
• Formulate a value proposition that resonates with specific pain points
• Systematically optimize based on feedback
• Build a predictable customer acquisition process

These are precisely the competencies that funds are looking for. Technology is one thing, but the ability to systematically reach the market and learn from those interactions is the fundamental difference between a startup that can scale and one that gets bogged down in chaos.

Practical perspective

In our work with startups, we see outbound as a tool to answer three key questions that investors ask:

1. Do you have a product-market fit?
Outbound provides hard evidence, not "we think so”, but “we interviewed 150 people targeted segment, 67% confirmed this pain point, 23% were ready to implement the demo within 30 days".

2. Do you understand your customer?
Systematic outbound requires precision. Communication cannot be personalized without a deep understanding of the industry, its challenges, and its decision-making processes. Each campaign is a test of this understanding, and the market immediately validates assumptions.

3. Can you execute a go-to-market strategy?
Building and running effective outbound campaigns requires the same skills you'll need to scale your sales after receiving funding. This isn't theory, it's demonstrating your skills in practice.

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Conclusions

The relationship between startups and venture capital funds is evolving toward greater data-driven symmetry. Both parties must proactively engage with the market and systematically gather information to inform decision-making in conditions of uncertainty.

For founders preparing to fundraise, the question isn't "whether to outbound," but "how to use outbound as a strategic tool to validate PMFs and build evidence for execution." It's not just about generating leads; it's about building an infrastructure for systematic market learning.

Startups with a strong outbound infrastructure have a fundamental advantage: they speak the same language as investors. The language of data, hypothesis testing, and measurable results. And it is this language that increasingly determines who receives funding.

FAQ: Outbound in Startup Fundraising

1. What is outbound in the context of a startup?
Outbound is the proactive way of reaching potential customers or investors through cold mailing, LinkedIn or telephone, instead of waiting for them to contact you (inbound).

2. Why is outbound important for startups before a VC round?
Outbound allows you to quickly verify market hypotheses, identify the ideal customer segment (ICP) and collect data confirming product-market fit - crucial for VC investors.

3. How does outbound help with product validation?
Systematic outbound campaigns enable you to test your value proposition, measure market response, and provide hard data on demand.

4. How do VCs use outbound?
Venture capital funds are increasingly using outbound to actively search for promising startups, using data analysis and AI tools.

5. What do outbound startups and VC have in common?
Both parties use outbound as a data source and strategy execution tool – creating a common language based on metrics, validation, and evidence of effectiveness.