🤖 #29: Vivian's Deeptech Insider: Why your competitors will outfund you (unless you fix this)

Hello and welcome to #29 edition of the fortnightly Vivian’s Deeptech Insider.

Three weeks ago, two startups pitched the same VC firm on the same day.

Both Deeptech. Both brilliant technical teams. Both addressing massive markets.

Company A: Rejected after 20 minutes.
Company B: Term sheet within 48 hours.

The difference wasn't the tech. It wasn't the market size. It wasn't even the team.

It was one slide that Company B showed - and Company A couldn't.

Company B's founder stood up and said: "We've spent £47k over 12 weeks. Here's exactly what that bought us in terms of validated learning and risk reduction."

Then he showed a breakdown that made every investor in the room lean forward.

Company A? They talked about features built and money spent. No learning metrics. No proof of systematic progress.

Guess which one you sound like right now?

The brutal math of startup survival

Here's what I see when I audit failing startups:

• Burning £12k/month but learning maybe £2k worth of actionable insights

• Can't articulate what risks they've actually reduced

• No systematic process for converting spend into validated progress

• Wonder why investors keep saying "interesting, but too early"

Meanwhile, the startups that raise rounds? They've weaponised their learning rate.

They walk into rooms with statements like: "Our cost per validated insight dropped 67% once we implemented systematic learning protocols."

VCs don't invest in features. They invest in learning velocity.

Your learning rate audit (takes 3 minutes)

Want to see the uncomfortable truth about your current learning efficiency?

I've built the diagnostic that reveals whether you're learning fast enough to outpace competitors - or just burning cash while they gain ground.

Get your learning rate score →

The results separate the future success stories from the future "what happened to them?" cases.

Fair warning: 73% of founders discover they're learning 4x slower than they thought. But the 27% who score well? They're the ones raising rounds.

The acceleration problem

Here's the thing - knowing your learning rate is just the starting point.

The real question is: How do you systematically accelerate it?

Most founders try to figure this out alone. They read blog posts. They experiment randomly. They waste months on trial and error.

Smart founders get systematic help.

Why Capital Catalyst exists

I created this 10-week board-level residency after watching too many brilliant technical founders get outmaneuvered by less technical teams who simply learned faster.

It's not about pitch decks or fundraising tactics.

It's about turning your burn rate into systematic competitive advantage.

The founders who work with me don't just learn faster - they learn in ways that create undeniable investor narratives. Coming from a place of clarity around their business model, their tech, AND their exit strategy.

Board-level thinking at founder speed = Board-as-a-Service.

Waitlist closes in 3 days.

This learning rate diagnostic? It's just a taste of what we do every week inside Capital Catalyst.

Here's the reality - I only take on a limited number of founders per cohort.

The founders who get in? They're the ones who've already proven they're serious about systematic improvement. Starting with tools like this.

If you're still reading this, you're probably one of them.

But spots fill fast. And once the waitlist closes, you'll be waiting until next quarter.

The question isn't whether you need board-level thinking at founder speed.

The question is whether you'll act on it before your competitors do.

Til next time,

Vivian

P.S. Company B from the opening story? They were burning £8k/month more than Company A. But their learning rate was 5x higher. The investors could see they'd reach product-market fit before running out of money. Company A couldn't prove the same thing. Math wins.

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P.P.S.S Are we connected on LinkedIn? I’m here.

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