A compelling vision gives an investor a reason to care. A concrete explanation gives them something to evaluate. The gap between those two showed up repeatedly in TGN Office Hours with Amit Nath, CEO of Vettable, and JD Audena, Principal at Connetic Ventures.

Hosted by Darrel Frater in The Good News LOOP, the October 9 conversation brought founders into the room to practice their pitches and ask for feedback. The useful lesson was larger than any one company: make the customer, the pain, the evidence and the next step visible.

Vettable provides startup evaluation, founder feedback and investor matching tools. Amit described its free founder access and ways to sharpen a pitch. Connetic Ventures invests in early-stage companies and uses its Wendal platform in its evaluation process. JD connected those ideas to the questions he asks when reviewing a business.

The following framework draws on their session feedback. It is a practical way to prepare a conversation, not a promise that a particular pitch or milestone will secure funding.

Give the listener four things they can remember

JD described listening for who a founder serves, the pain they solve, why this team and why now, and concrete traction. Revenue can help, but so can real pilots or other evidence that shows what is happening beyond the founder’s imagination.

Write those points in plain language before assembling a deck. Can a person outside your industry explain the customer and the problem after hearing you once? Can they distinguish a current product from the larger business you hope to build?

Amit’s pitch guidance also emphasized the team, product, traction and purpose. A brief introduction should create a useful follow-up conversation. It does not have to contain every detail of the business.

Try this: Record a one-minute version. Ask a listener to repeat the customer, problem, solution and evidence without looking at your notes. Revise the parts they cannot repeat accurately.

Start with people who already feel the pain

One founder described a temperature-monitoring solution intended to make cold-chain disputes easier to resolve. JD first asked about the market and what prospective customers already spend on the problem. His next suggestion was specific: start with people who have already experienced spoilage, rather than beginning with customers who have not yet recognized the risk.

That distinction gives customer discovery a sharper target. A broad category of possible buyers can hide very different levels of urgency. Someone who recently lost inventory may understand the cost and decision process more clearly than someone who has never faced that loss.

Try this: Identify a small group with a recent, observable version of the problem. Ask what happened, what they did about it, what it cost and who approved the response. Keep their actual language separate from your proposed solution.

Test beyond your friends

When a founder described a product friends were using, Amit encouraged testing with people outside that circle. He suggested finding strangers through online communities and other appropriate channels, and also discussed grants, pilots and pitch competitions as potential routes for early progress.

Friends can provide encouragement and useful feedback. They can also be a poor substitute for evidence from the people expected to adopt and pay for the product. The objective is to learn whether the value survives outside a supportive relationship.

Try this: Invite a few people who match your target customer and do not know you well. Watch how they use the product. Record where they get stuck, what they would replace and whether they want to keep using it. Do not treat polite praise as a purchase commitment.

Show what capital would change

A founder building electric last-mile delivery infrastructure described early deliveries and a business that was sustaining operations. JD asked how that progress had been achieved, what additional money would enable in the next three months, and what the numbers might look like over a longer period. He also emphasized that every business does not need venture capital.

This moves the pitch from a request for money to a testable operating plan. The plan should connect an investment to a specific constraint and an achievable milestone, with assumptions the listener can examine.

Try this: Create a simple before-and-after table: today’s capacity, the bottleneck, the proposed use of funds, the next milestone and the evidence you will collect. Identify assumptions instead of presenting forecasts as established results. Consider which type of capital fits the business you are building.

Ship a useful version before the complete vision

Connor Brewer explained the fragmented software and interruptions he experienced running an excavation and land-clearing business. His Drop Hammer concept connected those workflows, with voice control as an important part of the intended experience.

JD recognized the value of Connor’s domain knowledge but questioned whether the hardest voice requirement had to be solved before the first useful release. He suggested a simpler routine that could reduce downtime while the broader assistant continued to develop.

The lesson is to separate a valuable first result from the full feature set. A product can earn trust by solving a smaller problem well, then improve through use.

Try this: Name one task you can make materially easier now. Define a measurable improvement and test it with a willing customer. Keep the larger roadmap visible without making every future feature a condition for learning today.

Evaluate the investor, too

Amit encouraged founders to consider check size, investment focus, recent activity and how an investor helps portfolio companies. He suggested speaking with founders about the value an investor brought in the early months of a relationship.

A polished pitch cannot make every investor a good fit. Preparing a targeted list and understanding each firm’s focus makes outreach more deliberate. Mutual diligence also helps a founder decide what kind of relationship would support the company’s next stage.

Try this: For each prospective investor, record the stage, sector, geography, typical check and source/date of that information. Ask portfolio founders for concrete examples of support. Update the list as you learn.

Build with the community

The Good News LOOP is a faith-driven founder community where entrepreneurs can practice, learn and build relationships. Darrel described this work as ministry and an opportunity to help founders grow in business and in faith.

Join The Good News LOOP, explore Vettable and learn about Connetic Ventures.

For fintech and insurtech founders, JD also highlighted Venture135. The event’s application page lists November 19–20, 2026 in Charlotte, a $200,000 investment competition with Connetic Ventures, and requirements including the presentation application and Wendal assessment. Check the current eligibility and deadlines on that page.