Pitch Audit
Get an investor's honest read on what's blocking your raise — and a clear plan to fix it.
Most founders are too close to their own materials to see what investors actually see. I review your pitch from the other side of the table, as an active angel investor, and tell you exactly what's working, what isn't, and what to fix first.
Get your deck reviewed: Find out what investors really think when they see your pitch — before you're in the room.
Identify your fundraising blockers: Whether it's your narrative, your numbers, your targeting, or your process, we'll find where your raise is actually breaking down.
Walk away with a clear plan: Not vague feedback. Specific next steps, prioritized by impact.
What you get
Pre-call review Before we talk, send me your deck and any other relevant materials. I review everything in advance so we spend our time on diagnosis and solutions, not catching me up.
The session (60 minutes on Zoom) We go through what I found, dig into the root causes, and work through the fixes together. You'll know exactly where your raise stands and what needs to change.
Pitch Audit Report Within 48 hours, you get a written summary of our findings and the specific next steps we discussed — so nothing gets lost and you have a clear reference as you execute.
The fee and credit
The fee is $500. If you later join The Founder Quest Intensive or move into ongoing advisory with me, I will apply the full $500 as a credit toward your enrollment.
Who is it for?
You're not getting meetings: Your outreach isn't converting and you're not sure if it's your targeting, your message, or your deck.
You're getting meetings but not moving forward: Investors seem interested but go quiet, give vague feedback, or keep asking for "just one more thing."
You want an outside perspective before you launch your round: You'd rather find the problems now than discover them after twenty investor conversations.
MEET your guide
I'm Lance Cottrell
I've helped over 1,200 founders raise their $1m pre-seed rounds (on average).
I created Founder Quest™ to share my fundraising system with you, so you can raise $1M or more in 3 months without a network.
When I founded my first company, Anonymizer, I struggled to raise the capital we needed.
I had no idea why investors turned us down when I thought we had such potential.
After my successful exit, I started angel investing and immediately realized what I had been doing wrong.
Now I want to share that knowledge and experience with you.
Helped 1200 founders raise their $1m pre-seed rounds.
Raised millions of dollars for Anonymizer
Made over 30 angel investments
President of the North Bay Angels
"The Founder Quest workshops cover everything you need to know to prepare for and create compelling investor decks and understand what's needed and expected for the whole funding journey."
- Stuart Prestedge
"Thanks to Lance, we gained a deeper understanding of what VCs and angel investors look for and how to position ourselves for success. We’re grateful for his thoughtful insights and highly recommend working with him."
- Rishabh
“I'm lucky to have met Lance during a foundational period at my company Credder Inc. His clarity of thought and focus on the key drivers of a business have proven to be invaluable to me. Lance has a true talent for taking his past experience and marrying it with the often urgent and stressful situations a founder finds themselves in."
-Chase Palmieri
"Lance Cottrell can identify the superpowers in a founding team and bring them to the surface like none other. He gets your vision, and his frank feedback comes right when you need it.”
-Torrey Smith - CEO Endiatx