Matias Serebrinsky's journey from founding Cookunity (raising $100M+) to starting PsyMed Ventures offers a dual perspective. This playbook covers the shift from operator to investor, the tactical differences in raising early vs. growth stage capital, and the strategic advantages of thesis-driven investing in a specialized market like mental health.
Key takeaways
- Master the story for your seed round, but master your metrics for Series B.
- Your value as a founder-turned-VC is seeing the operational gaps others miss.
- A niche investment thesis (e.g., mental health) provides an information and network advantage.
- Avoid common fundraising mistakes: mismatched investor targeting, weak storytelling, and no clear use of funds.
- Global teams are a talent advantage, not a cost-cutting measure. Build culture intentionally.
- The best capital comes from investors who deeply understand your specific market.
From Founder to Investor: Seeing Both Sides of the Table
There are two different games in venture: building a company and funding a company. Matias Serebrinsky has played both at a high level. After co-founding Cookunity and raising over $100 million, he launched PsyMed Ventures, a fund focused on the mental health space.
His journey from Argentina to the US, from operator to allocator, offers a powerful playbook for founders. You learn one set of lessons getting a VC to wire you millions, and another set of lessons deciding where to wire millions yourself. This is what you learn moving from one side of the table to the other.
The Operator's Blind Spots (That Investors See Immediately)
As a founder, you live and breathe your product, your team, your customers. This immersion is a superpower, but it creates blind spots. When you become an investor, you learn to spot these patterns in other founders instantly.
The "Generic" Pitch: You have a deeply specific, world-changing vision, but you tell a generic story. You talk about market size and TAM but fail to convey the sharp, personal insight that led you to start the company. Investors hear hundreds of pitches; only the authentic, specific narratives cut through. · Weak Metrics Narrative: You either don't know your numbers cold, or you can't explain what they mean. An investor doesn't just want to know your CAC; they want to know why it is what it is, how you'll lower it, and how it relates to your LTV. Your metrics aren't just numbers; they are the quantitative expression of your strategy. · Mis-Targeting Investors: You pitch consumer VCs on your deep-tech B2B product. You pitch a seed-stage fund your Series B metrics. Doing this signals you haven't done the most basic homework. It wastes everyone's time and burns your credibility. PsyMed Ventures, for example, focuses on mental health. Pitching them an e-commerce startup is a non-starter.
The Fundraising Gauntlet: A Tale of Two Raises
Raising over $100 million isn't a single event. It’s a multi-stage marathon where the rules change at every leg. The skills that get you a $2M seed round won't get you a $50M Series B.
Act I: The Seed & Series A — Selling the Dream
Your early-stage rounds are built on conviction and narrative. Your product might be barely functional, and your revenue might be zero. Your job is to sell a believable dream.
The Core Pitch: It’s all about the story. Why this team? Why this problem? Why now? Your deck should be a compelling narrative, not a spreadsheet. · Your Key Asset: Your team. Investors are betting on your ability to figure it out when everything goes wrong. · The Ask: You're raising enough capital (e.g., $1.5M - $3M for a pre-seed/seed) to hit a clear set of milestones over the next 18-24 months that will prove your core hypothesis and unlock the Series A. · The Goal: Find a true believer. You need a lead investor who buys into your vision completely and will advocate for you.
Act II: The Series B and Beyond — Selling the Reality
Growth-stage fundraising is a different sport. The conversation shifts from "what if" to "what is." Dreams don't get funded; spreadsheets do.
The Core Pitch: It’s all about the machine. You have proven product-market fit. Now you need to show you have a repeatable, scalable, profitable growth model. The story matters, but only as a frame for your metrics. · Your Key Asset: Your traction and unit economics. Be prepared for deep diligence on your LTV/CAC ratio, payback periods, cohort retention, and gross margins. A 3:1 LTV/CAC is often the minimum bar. · The Ask: You're raising a significant amount of capital (e.g., $20M - $50M+) to own a market. The use of funds must be precise: "We will spend $X on sales to acquire Y customers, $A on R&D to launch Z features, and $P on international expansion." · The Goal: Find a partner who can help you scale. This means operational expertise, hiring support, and the capital to win.
The Investor's Edge: Why a Niche Thesis Wins
After operating, many founders get the itch to invest. Serebrinsky’s move with PsyMed Ventures highlights a critical choice: be a generalist or a specialist. PsyMed invests in companies at the intersection of medical and psychedelic-based therapies, including portfolio companies like Freedom Biosciences, Journey Clinical, and Delix Therapeutics. This isn't a casual interest; it's a strategic advantage.
Why Specialize?
Deeper Diligence: In a complex, regulated field like healthcare, surface-level knowledge is dangerous. A specialist fund understands the scientific landscape, the regulatory hurdles (e.g., FDA pathways), and the reimbursement models. They can tell true innovation from hype. · Stronger Founder Support: A generalist VC can give you good advice on hiring a Head of Sales. A specialist VC can introduce you to the three leading clinical research organizations in your specific field. For founders in a niche, this is invaluable. · Proprietary Deal Flow: The best founders in a niche want to be backed by the smartest investors in that niche. A strong thesis becomes a magnet for high-quality, relevant companies that generalist funds may never see.
For founders, this means you should actively seek out thesis-driven investors. A VC who already understands your world can make faster decisions, ask smarter questions, and add more value post-investment. Your job isn't to find any capital; it's to find the right capital.
A Note on Building Global Teams
The source material mentions a "global approach to team building." This is no longer a novelty; it's a core startup strategy. But it's often done poorly.
Don't do it just to save money. Do it to access the best talent on the planet. Your head of engineering could be in Eastern Europe, your lead designer in Latin America, and your marketing lead in the US. If you build a remote-first culture based on trust, documentation, and asynchronous communication, you create a massive competitive advantage in the war for talent.
The key is intentionality. You can't simply hire people in different time zones and hope a culture forms. It requires explicit effort, clear communication protocols, and regular (if infrequent) in-person gatherings to build connective tissue.
How to Apply This This Week: An Action Plan
Refine Your "Investor-Ready" Story: Write down the core, non-obvious insight that led you to start your company. Why are you the person to solve this problem? Record yourself telling this story and listen back. Is it compelling? · Create an Investor Target List: Identify 30-50 funds. For each one, write one sentence on why they are a perfect fit. If you can’t, cut them from the list. Look for partners with a specific thesis relevant to your industry. · Pressure-Test Your Metrics: If you are post-revenue, identify one key metric (e.g., CAC, churn, engagement). Write a one-paragraph explanation for why the number is what it is and what your concrete plan is to improve it in the next 90 days. · Run a Pitch Audit: Ask a trusted mentor or fellow founder to listen to your pitch and give you feedback specifically on where the narrative is weak or the logic is fuzzy. Ask them, "What's the biggest hole in this pitch?"
Frequently asked questions
- What are the biggest differences between raising a seed round and a Series B or C?
- Seed rounds are primarily about your story, your team, and your vision. Later-stage rounds like Series B are almost entirely about your metrics, unit economics, and proven scalability.
- Why would a successful founder start a niche-focused venture fund?
- A niche focus, like PsyMed Ventures's on mental health, allows an investor to leverage deep domain expertise for better diligence, provide more targeted support to founders, and build a powerful, specialized network.
- What are the most common mistakes founders make when pitching VCs?
- Common mistakes include not researching the VC's thesis, telling a generic story instead of a compelling narrative, not knowing key metrics cold, and failing to articulate a clear, concise plan for the capital.
- What's the main advantage of building a global team early on?
- The primary advantage is access to a wider, deeper talent pool. While it can be cost-effective, its true power is in finding the best people for the job, regardless of location.
