{"id":251043,"date":"2026-07-09T19:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/09\/charles-hudson-shares-the-common-mistakes-hes-seen-after-investing-in-500-startups-techcrunch\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:26:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:26:31","slug":"charles-hudson-shares-the-common-mistakes-hes-seen-after-investing-in-500-startups-techcrunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/09\/charles-hudson-shares-the-common-mistakes-hes-seen-after-investing-in-500-startups-techcrunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Hudson shares the common mistakes he\u2019s seen after investing in 500+ startups | TechCrunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Charles Hudson has spent more than a decade investing in early-stage startups. As the founder and managing partner at <a href=\"https:\/\/precursorvc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u2060Precursor Ventures\u2060<\/a>, he\u2019s invested in hundreds of companies and has seen massive shifts in the markets that require founders to get creative and do away with the old fundraising playbooks. In this week\u2019s episode of <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcasts\/build-mode\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Build Mode<\/a>, Startup Battlefield lead <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/isabelle-johannessen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Isabelle Johannessen<\/a> talks with Hudson about the headwinds facing early-stage founders today and the most common mistakes founders should avoid in order to get funded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"tcembed-iframe tcembed--megaphone wp-block-tc23-podcast-player__embed\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=TCML6725209387\"><\/iframe>\n\t<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-optimizing-for-high-valuations-over-prudent-planning\">Optimizing for high valuations over prudent planning<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A high valuation doesn\u2019t make sense for every company. While it can garner attention from media and legitimize the company to other investors, founders should be realistic about the expectations they are setting for their company with their valuation and most importantly think about who they\u2019re choosing for their cap table. Is a big check worth working with a bad-fit investor for the next 10 years?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe real risk with these big rounds is you end up being a prisoner of your own company. You raise all this money, and you\u2019ve sold people on a big vision. They don\u2019t want the money back \u2014 they want you to find a way to build something that\u2019s worthy of what they gave you,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-run-your-own-due-diligence-on-prospective-investors\">Run your own due diligence on prospective investors<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong> <\/strong>Talk to portfolio founders to see the kind of value-add the investor can offer. Verify claims they make about recruitment, GTM support, and connections to other platform teams. Remember, the VCs are courting you as much as you\u2019re courting them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re curious to hear more about valuations and investor selection, be sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">subscribe to Build Mode<\/a>. Next week, Andrew Dai, the co-founder and CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/elorian.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Elorian<\/a>, comes on to discuss the company\u2019s massive $30 million valuation they received before even raising pre-seed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-know-whether-venture-capital-is-right-for-your-business\">Know whether venture capital is right for your business<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Great businesses aren\u2019t always venture-scale businesses. Venture capital only works if you\u2019re building a company capable of returning a fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve been more successful lately in telling people, \u2018This is what venture capital needs you to do. Let\u2019s abstract away from your company. This is the kind of business you need to want to build. Is that your desire?\u2019\u201d Hudson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-understand-today-s-fundraising-reality\">Understand today\u2019s fundraising reality<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venture capital has changed dramatically in the past few years. Investors aren\u2019t just evaluating your company against last year\u2019s startups; they\u2019re also comparing you to the fastest-growing AI companies in history. Even startups that are showing growth that would be amazing in other markets aren\u2019t keeping up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re doubling, they\u2019re tripling, they\u2019re quadrupling, and the message they\u2019re hearing from the market is that\u2019s good but not great,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new season of Build Mode is out now. Every week we\u2019re talking to the investors backing some of the hottest startups in the game and the founders building from the ground up and those who have successfully exited their companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re getting into bootstrapping and crowd funding. We\u2019re breaking down term sheets and giving hands-on pitch advice.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Subscribe to Build Mode on<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/build-mode\/id1561051074\" target=\"_blank\">\u2060<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/build-mode\/id1561051074\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Apple Podcasts\u2060<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0Dqmcq2aDrZkS9v1fITOKV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u2060Spotify\u2060<\/a>, or<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA\" target=\"_blank\">\u2060<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">wherever you like to listen\u2060<\/a>. And watch the full videos on<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1jCGsEOizz8\" target=\"_blank\">\u2060<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1jCGsEOizz8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">YouTube\u2060<\/a>. New episodes of \u2060<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcasts\/build-mode\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Build Mode\u2060<\/a> drop every Thursday. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>When you purchase through links in our articles, <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/techcrunch-affiliate-monetization-standards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/07\/09\/charles-hudson-shares-the-common-mistakes-hes-seen-after-investing-in-500-startups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charles Hudson has spent more than a decade investing in early-stage startups. As the founder and managing partner at \u2060Precursor Ventures\u2060, he\u2019s invested in hundreds of companies and has seen massive shifts in the markets that require founders to get creative and do away with the old fundraising playbooks. In this week\u2019s episode of Build [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":251044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-251043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}