Marc Andreessen, Sam Altman and Peter Thiel on How to raise Venture Capital

How first-time founders can raise money in 2025—featuring advice from the $100M GitHub investor, Sam Altman, and Peter Thiel.

Raising money for your startup can feel daunting – especially if it’s your first time.

The good news is that countless founders have walked this path, and we can learn from their experiences. In this friendly but analytical guide, we’ll break down how to fundraise as a first-time founder, drawing on insights from legendary entrepreneurs/investors like Marc Andreessen, Sam Altman, and Peter Thiel.

We’ll also cover modern strategies (from SAFE notes to accelerators) and how the 2024–2025 funding climate has changed compared to a decade ago. Let’s dive in!

Build First, Fundraise Second (Marc Andreessen’s Core Advice)

Marc Andreessen – cofounder of Netscape and venture firm a16z – emphasizes one crucial thing for new founders: have a real product (or prototype) before you try to raise serious money.

If you’ve never built a company before and only have a slide deck or an idea, top VCs are very unlikely to fund you. Andreessen notes that on the rare occasions a first-timer raises big VC money, it’s often because they already built something impressive. He gives examples: Mark Zuckerberg had a working Facebook product at Harvard, the Google founders had built their search engine at Stanford, and Andreessen himself built the Mosaic browser before starting Netscape​.

In other words, “the best thing to do as a first time founder is actually build a product”. That working product becomes your calling card – proof that you can execute.

Of course, there’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma: you might think you need funding to build the product. In reality, today’s tools (cloud computing, open-source software, no-code platforms, etc.) make it cheaper than ever to create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with little or no external funding. Scrape together personal savings, team up with a co-founder, or do a small friends-and-family round if needed. Bootstrap enough to get a prototype and early users – this dramatically improves your fundraising odds. Investors want to see something real; it shows initiative and de-risks their investment.

Marc Andreessen also suggests focusing on whether your startup could become important.

Venture investors are looking for companies that, if successful, will be high-impact and market-leading. Andreessen recounts how GitHub proudly bootstrapped for years, but eventually raised money to “go for it” and become a “very big and important company.” They realized they could be the central platform for software development, but scaling to that level required outside capital​.

The lesson for founders: have a vision for something big. If you can articulate why your company could matter on a large scale (and have early proof points), investors will pay attention. Conversely, if your idea is small or “nice-to-have,” it’ll be harder to excite venture capital. Aim to solve meaningful problems or create new markets – “important” companies get funded more easily.

Sam Altman’s Fundraising Playbook: Keep It Simple and Quality-Focused

Sam Altman – CEO of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator – has coached hundreds of startups on raising money.

His advice to first-time founders can be boiled down to a few key points:

• Focus on building a great company, not fundraising tricks. “If you have a good company, you will probably be able to raise money,” Altman says plainly​. Many founders overthink “growth hacks” for fundraising – timing press releases, creating artificial FOMO, etc. Don’t over-optimize with gimmicks​. Instead, pour that effort into making your product and team better. Fundamentals speak louder than slick tactics. As Altman puts it, you’re better off improving your company than doing “fundraising jiujitsu”​.

  

• Run a concise, parallel process. Don’t approach investors one by one in a drawn-out sequence. Talk to all your target investors in parallel, over a short window​. This creates a competitive vibe – when multiple VCs are interested at the same time, each knows they have to move fast or risk missing out​.

  The fear of missing out (yes, FOMO is real in VC) is your friend. Altman stresses that this parallel approach is “important”​ – it’s the one bit of “game” you should play. Practically, this means you might set up a 2-3 week period to pitch, aiming to get at least a couple of offers around the same time.

• Communicate your story clearly. Investors see thousands of pitches, so you need to cut through with clarity and passion. Be ready to explain why your company will make a lot of money for an investor​.

  This usually means covering, in a crisp narrative: your mission, the problem you solve, your product, any current traction (users or revenue), your market size, competition, why you’ll win, how you’ll make money, and your team’s strengths​

  . That sounds like a lot, but think of it as the essential ingredients of a good pitch. Keep it simple and avoid buzzword soup. As Altman advises, make your story as easy to understand as possible – and of course, it helps if you actually have a compelling story and vision behind it​!

• Choose quality investors and fair terms. All money is not equal. A big part of fundraising is actually deciding whom to take money from and on what terms. Altman warns against chasing the absolute highest valuation or convoluted terms in early rounds. “The important thing is to get good investors, [with] clean terms, and not spend too much time fundraising,” he writes​.
  
  A reasonable deal with investors who genuinely help you is far better than an over-inflated deal with bad terms. Why? Because an unrealistic valuation sets you up for a dreaded down-round later, which can be disastrous for team morale and momentum​.
  In 2025’s environment, down-rounds are more common if you over-raise at a silly valuation (we’ve seen this in recent years). Take Altman’s “prime directive” to heart: never put yourself in a position where your next round might be lower​.
  
  Optimize for long-term success, not bragging rights. This means use simple, standard deal documents (more on SAFE notes below), avoid heavy liquidation preferences or other “gotcha” clauses, and be willing to accept a fair valuation that leaves some upside for the next investor. Also, pick investors you’d be happy to work with for years. Great investors act as partners – they can advise, connect, and support you when things get tough. Bad or apathetic investors can drain your time or even hurt your startup​.
  
  As Altman quips, party rounds (dozens of tiny investors who don’t really care) are not very helpful​.
  
  It’s often better to have a lead investor who will stick by you and provide guidance than a crowd of drive-by check writers​.

• Don’t fall in love with fundraising. Your goal is to build a company, not to become a professional fundraiser. Raise the money you need, then get back to product and growth. Altman recommends having one founder handle the fundraise while others focus on the business, so the company doesn’t grind to a halt​. Treat fundraising as a necessary evil to get done quickly​e. Some founders get addicted to the chase (especially in boom times when capital is flowing), but remember: Fundraising is a means, not an end. The real “scoreboard” is your business’s success, not how much money you’ve raised.

Altman’s practical tips boil down to pragmatism: be honest, be efficient, and keep your eye on building value. If you do that, you’ll usually find that investors come to you. In fact, one of the best fundraise strategies is simply making observable progress – shipping product, signing up users, hitting milestones. Nothing makes VCs want to write a check more than FOMO that you’re going to be the next big thing with or without them.

Peter Thiel’s Perspective: Bold Vision and Unique Insights