Stanford GSB Professor on Startups & Investors

The Deal Funnel: Why VCs Say No to 99 Out of 100 Startups

How investors source deals, the funnel that filters a hundred opportunities down to one investment, and why the odds are stacked against founders. VC 101: Investor Decision Making — Part 1 of 6.

Ilya Strebulaev's avatar
Ilya Strebulaev
Jul 20, 2026

An average venture capitalist reviews more than 100 startups before making a single investment. To be specific, my research shows the average number of startups reviewed for each investment is 101.

That is a remarkable number that every founder and investor need to ponder about. One hundred and one companies that made it far enough to enter the VC deal f…

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