How Series A Investors Think at Disrupt 2025

What does it take to turn a polite investor nod into that hard yes at Series A? At Disrupt 2025, a discussion about what creeps into today’s term sheets — and the mindset driving these changes between Katie Stanton (Moxxie Ventures), Thomas Krane (Insight Partners) and Sangeen Zeb (GV) — laid out clearly for founders what’s non-negotiable, what’s different than in years past and how to come to terms with that fact.

From signal to certainty: proof over promise at Series A

And Series A is no longer a game of promise; it is a game of proof. Investors are looking for hard evidence of product-market fit — flattening retention curves, repeatable acquisition channels, efficient growth that can stand up to scrutiny. And storytelling is important — only as long as every claim is inspired and grounded in data and customer reality.

Panelists emphasized that teams able to articulate not only what works but why it works — and where it breaks — earn trust quickly. Understanding your second-order drivers (pricing, onboarding speed, sales cycle and buyer persona) is an operator checkbox.

What numbers drive a Series A deal in today’s market

Series A efficiency is high — according to recent venture benchmarks from PitchBook and the NVCA Yearbook^*, it is higher than at any time last cycle. With SaaS, a burn multiple under 1.5 is a good signal; between 1.5 and 2.5 will be doable if growth is extraordinary. Net dollar retention of 115–120% or greater indicates that expansion is real, and not merely logo churn hidden by new sales.

Investors also home in on CAC payback (sub-12 months is best-in-class for enterprise, sub-9 months for bottoms-up PLG), gross margins (70%–80% for software) and a clear path to the Rule of 40 once scale occurs. If you are pre-revenue or asset-heavy, unit economics and margin progression have to replace ARR proof…

Traction thresholds by category for Series A readiness

Enterprise software: $1–3 million ARR with cohorts you can see improve as you go from early adopters to mainstream buyers. Anticipate examining pipeline coverage (3–4x), win rates by segment and time to close by ACV. Better to have a repeatable playbook in one wedge than to fire an addled multi-vertical spread shotgun.

Consumer: DAU/MAU above 25–30%, week-8 retention curves that are not a cliff, and organic share of acquisition over 40%. Revenue can follow engagement, if it’s clear the audience exists, but investors will ask about the path to monetization and how platform risk is managed.

Fintech and health: Regulation for growth doesn’t only mean compliance controls are ready. Proof of risk management, data privacy and bank or provider integrations often outweigh raw revenue in the early innings. Vanity preorders matter less than verified pilot-to-contract conversion and a margin roadmap for devices or climate hardware.

Narratives that survive diligence and win Series A rounds

Great Series A stories are straightforward: huge pain point, product 10x better, clear user pull and a GTM engine that becomes cheaper and faster.

Investors at the session emphasized “cause and effect” storytelling — show how a single core insight (a new workflow, a data advantage, your own channel) compounds into defensibility.

One recurring pattern: founders that pick a tight ICP, dominate that niche, then grow horizontally on it.

Data room materials should reflect this:

• Cohort retention by segment
• Channel mix by cost and payback
• Pricing experimentation that resulted in higher NRR

Inside today’s Series A term sheet: what to expect now

If we look at most rounds issued, many still conform to a 1x non-participating liquidation preference, pro rata rights and protective provisions tied to major corporate events. One or two investor seats, plus an independent board, are often typical. A 10–15% pre-money option pool — expect requests to be more rigorous.

Proceeds usage is more limited than in boom years. Investors want to see specific milestone math — what this capital gets you in ARR, margin or clinical/regulatory milestones — and hiring plans that correlate headcount with outcomes and not optics.

Market reality check for founders raising Series A today

The venture market has stabilized, but the bar to raise is higher. PitchBook’s Venture Monitor has U.S. median Series A sizes in the low-to-mid teens (millions) and seed-to-A time lagging beyond two years for many companies, and pre-money valuations regularly blooming into the $60–70 million area. Dry powder is still abundant at multi-stage firms, but the deployment bias is in favor of companies that are lean and focused.

Translation: Founders don’t need to be perfect, but they do need clarity. If tradeoffs are clear and the plan to confront them is credible, investors are fine with tradeoffs.

Momentum-killing red flags that can derail a Series A

Deal-breakers raised on stage included:

• Cohort analyses that improve only because of heavy discounts
• Inconsistent definitions of ARR or churn
• TAM slides “inflated” by adjacent categories
• Governance gaps such as unclear IP assignment or missing SOC 2 roadmaps where relevant

Another quiet killer: messy data hygiene. If a founder can’t reconcile CRM, billing and product analytics during diligence, confidence collapses. Clean, auditable numbers are now a competitive advantage.

How to prepare like a pro

Before you pitch, assemble a crisp data room:

• Revenue quality reports
• Cohort retention by acquisition channel
• Detailed funnel conversion
• Gross margin by product
• Pipeline snapshots with win/loss notes

Include a bottoms-up model that ties hiring to capacity and outputs, plus a six-quarter milestone plan showing what unlocks the next round.

Finally, practice the “three-slide test”: if you could only show the problem, the product’s unique edge and the traction proof, would the story still stand? At Series A, that level of focus is often the difference between “maybe” and “we’re in.”