Steph from OpenVC

New York has hundreds of VCs. But do you know 10 who actually invest in your space? Probably not. That’s why we built Google Maps for Venture Capital. We call it OpenMap: 1️⃣ Go to OpenMap (link below) 2️⃣ Zoom into NYC 3️⃣ Filter by fintech, SaaS, pre-seed, or growth 4️⃣ See who’s active, where they’re based, and what they invest in Then go deeper: check their website, find warm intros, and understand your local ecosystem. If you’re a founder in NYC, you should know this map. If you’re a VC in NYC, you should be on it. 🗽 Explore 700+ investors in New York City here → openvc.app/to/recTlsUZPa9… PS: Not in NYC? You’ll probably find your city there too.

Founders raising in 2026, this is for you: I built a visual playbook to help you raise your first round without wasting the whole year. This is your step-by-step action plan from finding VCs to closing your round. I wish I had this playbook at my first raise. 👉 Comment "playbook" for free access Here's what's inside: → Understand the VC game (what VCs really want, where they invest) → Build your investor list (where to find relevant VCs, how to follow up) → Plan out your raise (SAFE vs equity, how much to raise) → Access investors (warm intros vs cold emails, how to get inbound leads) If you're raising in 2026, you need this playbook. 👉 Comment "playbook" for free access (Make sure we're connected to receive my DM) Repost this and help out a founder in your network

For more content like this, follow me here on X: @StephNass I tweet incredible tools and terrible insights for VCs and founders. 🫡

"Pitching investors" creates the wrong power dynamics. As a founder, you don't want to stand on the stage and pitch. You're not a pupil reciting your lesson in front of the teacher. You're a pro discussing an opportunity with another pro. You are EQUALS.

@kaiarhodes Inbound fundraising done right

Congrats to the investor that noticed I tweeted my phone number and called me. You will get allocation.

@Big_Cokes1 I will :) What part in particulier did you find the most annoying?

@StephNass Aight aight, thanks… updates us when it’s done .

San Francisco has hundreds of VCs. But do you know 10 who actually invest in your space? Probably not. That’s why we built Google Maps for venture capital. We call it OpenMap: 1️⃣ Go to OpenMap (link below) 2️⃣ Zoom into San Francisco 3️⃣ Filter by any vertical you want 4️⃣ See who’s active, where they’re based, and what they invest in Then go deeper: check their website, find warm intros, and understand your local ecosystem If you’re a founder in San Francisco, you should know this map. If you’re a VC in San Francisco, you should be on it. 🌉 Explore the San Francisco investor map here → openvc.app/to/recTlsUZPa9… PS: Not in SF? You’ll probably find your city there too.

That's a great question. We ask a lot of questions at signup because (a) this allows us to customize the experience for each user and (b) it filters out the tourists and keep the community clean. But I also recognize this is a bad experience. We are working on a simpler signup for EOY.

@StephNass Can you guys make the app easy to sign up for?

We built a FREE AI pitch deck tool. You can try it here 👉 openvc.app/decks

What software product should be rebuilt from scratch? I'll start: Eventbrite.

@ahmed_ismail20 Thanks! Your feedback is super valuable. The mobile version could use some fine-tuning fore sure. Maybe we could also show the filters by default instead of hiding them by default? 🤔 @LRoquilly

@StephNass I was using the phone by the way...I guess it was just partly me getting used to the platform, but in general it looked neat, would love to support you guys whenever I can, let me know

@ahmed_ismail20 Thanks Ahmed! What part was unintuitive and how could we improve it?

@StephNass Very nice idea! Congrats Steph. I tried it and it is indeed very extensive. Took me a min to figure out the filtering mechanism, so this could be improved but apart from this, perfect!

@kaiarhodes Inbound fundraising done right

If I were a VC I’d be tripping over myself to get into Anatar’s seed round. But I’m just the founder, so what do I know.

Nothing says "We care" like this:

@tdohrmann Who said bio slops? “If they’ve built something great, or modeled something great, or patented something great” then that’s what you put in your bio. Regardless, a pitch deck with 0 info about the founding team (not even their names) is useless.

Most of our team wouldn’t be recognized. Bio slop is unreliable. Plus too much credentialed mediocrity with impressive pedigrees that can’t build, market or sell their way out of a paper bag. I fired plenty of PhD‘s, MBAs, big brand execs, and credentialed “leaders” in healthcare. I am interested in what the team has to say and present. If they built something, I want to see what they’ve built and why. I want to evaluate the opportunity. If I like it, I’ll dig deep into finding out who the people are that came up with the incredible model or solution, or gained the traction. Looking for cookie cutter deck templates is complete bullshit. VC love to slap entrepreneurs around over trivial issues like a missing slide in a deck. If somebody builds something that’s going to change the world or make me rich I don’t give a shit about the team slide. I can always courteously ask to see the team stack. I want to know they’ve got integrity and grit, and they aren’t con artists. If they’ve built something great, or modeled something great, or patented something great, weak teams can always be strengthened. If I’m gonna take the time to open somebody’s materials, I’m going to give it a look, and the feedback I’m going to give if I decline is something that I would hope would offer real assistance to them. This feedback isn’t it if that’s all they got.

People say cold emails don’t work. The same people send decks that are walls of text... and don’t even include a Team slide. There's a lesson here.

@NicholasKatz Because it’s mean or because it’s wrong?

@StephNass TF someone is saying this out loud

Founder: "I need intros to raise funds!" No. What you need is a proper fundraising strategy and 6 months of runway to implement it :)

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