- Foundevo Newsletter
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- 🚫Why Most Startup Pitch Decks Get Rejected
🚫Why Most Startup Pitch Decks Get Rejected
🏆 2025 Forbes AI 50 List
In This Edition:
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👉 Want to go on 7+ podcasts every month? Book a demo now and we'll show you what podcasts YOU can guest on ASAP:
📚 Most-Requested Resources for Founders
🚨 Back by Popular Demand: Founders’ All-Time Favorite Resources

Gif by vrinnovations on Giphy
We dug into the vault and uncovered the most-clicked, most-loved, and most-shared startup drops we’ve ever published. Whether you missed them the first time or just need a refresher, this roundup is your fast pass to funding, pitching, and scaling smarter.
👇 Check out the greatest hits from Foundevo:
🔥 50 Funded Startups You Should Be Selling To
Just raised. Ready to spend. These B2B startups are in growth mode and looking to buy.
📊 490+ Real Pitch Decks That Raised Millions
No more guessing. These are the pitch decks investors actually said yes to.
🧠 1,000+ Active Angels You Can Pitch Today
Forget cold emails. This is your warm intro list to the most active angels in the game.
🎯 100 High-Performing Pitch Decks—Free to Swipe
We curated a goldmine of decks that raised real capital. Learn from what actually works.
🚀 Top Seed VCs You Need on Your Radar
We did the homework. These firms are leading early-stage deals and writing checks now.
📈 500+ Angel Investors Backing Founders
Newly updated. Actively writing checks. Get on their radar before your competitors do.
🧩 530 Angel Networks That Actually Fund Startups
Here’s how to get inside the rooms where deals happen. Plus: who to contact and how.
🛍️ Top VC Funds Betting Big on eCommerce
DTC is hot. These firms are placing the biggest bets—and they’re looking for new founders to back.
🔥 Missed these the first time?
This is your chance to dive back in and supercharge your founder journey with resources that thousands of others already loved.
💸 10 Mistakes That Kill Your Funding
🚫 Why Most Startup Pitch Decks Get Rejected

Investors review hundreds of pitch decks—but only a few make it past the first glance. A weak slide or unclear numbers can instantly derail a funding opportunity.
Here are the top red flags that often lead to a “no”:
🔍 No real traction – Ideas without user interest don’t cut it
👥 Generic team slides – Backgrounds don’t reveal founder grit
📉 Flawed market sizing – Big TAM claims without a wedge fall flat
🚀 No GTM plan – Hoping users show up is not a strategy
💸 Unrealistic CAC/LTV – Misaligned metrics raise major doubts
📊 Vague fund usage – Investors need to know what moves the needle
🔥 Burn rate math fails – Headcount vs. raise must add up
💬 Overuse of buzzwords – Clarity always beats jargon
📌 No competitor insight – Ignoring the landscape signals inexperience
🧾 Poor formatting – Weak design kills attention fast
🚩 Bonus red flag: Fundraising without momentum = instant rejection
📈 Founders: Know what signals matter before you pitch. 👉 Read the full checklist to avoid common pitfalls and build a winning deck.
🤖 Perplexity Now Answers Every Investor's Questions
Perplexity Now Answers Every Investor's Questions

Financial research just got a major upgrade. With its new integration with the SEC's EDGAR database, Perplexity enables seamless access to detailed filings—delivering investor-grade intelligence in seconds.
Key Highlights:
🔍 Search all SEC filings – Access 10-Ks, 10-Qs, S-1s, and more instantly
📈 Export financial statements – Ideal for deep analysis and modeling
🧠 Answer engine for investors – Get digestible insights with source links
📚 No more dense reports – Complex data simplified in real time
💼 Pro access to Factset, Crunchbase & more – For advanced financial research
📥 Whether you're a student, advisor, or institutional analyst—clarity is just a query away. 👉 Discover how Perplexity is redefining financial research.
StartEngine’s $30M Surge — Own a Piece Before June 26
StartEngine is the investing platform providing exposure to pre-IPO companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Databricks.
After doubling their revenues YoY in 2024 ($23M to $48M), StartEngine’s now tripled first quarter revenue YoY to a record $30M, based on its unaudited Q1 2025 financials. Now you can join 45K+ shareholders across all offerings before this round closes next month.
Reg A+ via StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. No BD/intermediary involved. Investment is speculative, illiquid & high risk. See OC and Risks on page.
📂 ChatGPT Can Now Read Your Google Drive
ChatGPT Connects to Google Drive, Box & More

OpenAI is doubling down on enterprise productivity with a major update to ChatGPT. The new features aim to streamline workflows, deepen research, and enhance meeting management.
🔗 Cloud Access: Connects to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box & more.
🎙️ Smart Meetings: Records, transcribes & suggests action items.
🧠 Deep Research: Pulls data from HubSpot, Linear, and web.
⚙️ MCP Support: Links ChatGPT to internal tools for context-rich tasks.
With 3 million enterprise subscribers and growing, OpenAI is setting a new standard for AI-powered productivity.
🧠 Claude Can Now Handle 10x More Content
Claude Just Got Smarter — 10x More Content, 10x More Power

Claude.ai introduces major upgrades to boost productivity, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across teams.
📚 200K Context: Handle up to 500 pages per project.
⚙️ Custom Prompts: Set tone and role-based responses.
🧠 Artifacts: View and edit outputs side-by-side.
🔁 Team Sharing: Share top chats in project feeds.
🚀 Claude 3.5 Sonnet: Faster, smarter, more capable.
Claude is redefining AI-powered teamwork—faster outputs, smarter context, and seamless collaboration.
🏆 2025 Forbes AI 50 List
AI 50: Top Agents Move Beyond Chat

The 2025 Forbes AI 50 list marks a pivotal shift: AI tools are moving from assistants to full-on operators across legal, customer service, and software development workflows.
⚙️ AI as Operator – Tools like Harvey now complete legal workflows end-to-end.
💻 Code to Features – Cursor helps build full apps from plain English prompts.
🤖 Robotics Surge – Skild AI and Figure AI advance general-purpose robot capabilities.
📱 Next: Consumer AI – Apps that manage real-life tasks are expected by 2026.
AI in 2025 is all about output, not just answers—ushering in a new era of productivity across sectors.
🧑 Google Tests AI Versions of Influencers
Google Tests AI Versions of High-Profile Influencers

Google is testing AI-generated versions of real-world experts with its latest experiment, Portraits, now live via Google Labs.
Key highlights:
🧠 AI “Portraits” offer advice based on a creator’s actual content and voice
🎙️ First launch features Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor
🤖 Conversations are powered by Gemini, tailored to each expert’s domain
🛠️ Designed for practical coaching on workplace challenges
🌐 Meta is developing similar creator-based AI agents
AI-led guidance from trusted names is here—blurring the line between real and replica. Explore what this could mean for the future of advice.
🎯 WEB PICKS
🔌 HubSpot Integrates ChatGPT for Deep CRM Insights
HubSpot’s new connector brings doctorate-level AI research tools to customer data, enabling smarter business decisions.
📈 Perplexity Hits 780M Queries; Eyes Growth with Comet Browser
Perplexity’s CEO reveals explosive growth and hints at scaling further with its upcoming AI-powered Comet browser.
💻 Google Gemini 2.5 Pro Update Boosts Coding Skills
Google says its upgraded Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model is now even better at handling complex programming tasks.
🖼️ DeviantArt Founder Unveils $22K Digital Art Display
Angelo Sotira’s new project, Layer, is a premium display for digital art—designed to support artists fairly.
📣 Alphabet CEO Downplays AI Layoffs, Focuses on Growth
Sundar Pichai reassures employees amid AI automation concerns, emphasizing Alphabet’s expansion into next year.
🤖 Hugging Face Launches Lightweight Robotics AI for Laptops
The new SmolVLA robotics model is so efficient it can run on a MacBook, democratizing access to robotics AI.
⚖️ Reddit Sues Anthropic Over Unlicensed AI Training
Reddit joins other publishers in legal action, accusing Anthropic of training AI models on its data without permission.
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