11/05/2025
Startup Fundraising in 2025: Why Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Says “Launch Before You Pitch”
At ComeUp Startup, we constantly emphasize practical advice for African founders — and few voices hit the nail as sharply as Iyinoluwa Aboyeji’s.
In a no-fluff, brutally honest post, the Flutterwave and Andela co-founder lays out why the era of idea-stage million-dollar pitch decks is over. His message? If you haven’t launched, validated, or sold anything yet, don’t expect investors to bite.
From building with no-code tools, pre-selling your idea, to bootstrapping from friends and family, his perspective is a wake-up call for modern founders navigating tighter venture capital markets.
We’re sharing the full post below not just because it’s timely — but because it’s real. Read it, reflect, and get back to building.
Full article below:
“Dear Founder,
If you are still carrying around a deck asking for $1m yet you haven’t launched - you are absolutely wasting your time. No one is funding those anymore. I still see these decks and I am screaming - wake up! It is not 2022 anymore.
The days of easy money for startups have been long gone and things are about to get even worse.
So here are a few tips from someone who built businesses and raised money from
A ton of angels before the booming 20’s.
1. Launch first. It is not a business if it hasn’t launched. No one backs ideas anymore. At minimum have a waitlist page. If you don’t know how to code, teach yourself how to build an MVP with a no-code or low code tool.
2. Sell before you build. If you know your customer, talking to them should be free. Try to understand in as much detail as possible what you need to build for them to pay you. If possible take it on as a consulting project for one customer who is willing to pay upfront. That way you know for sure you are surely building something they will pay for.
3. Start with the angels you know. Your former boss. Your co-workers. Your uncle. Your college roommate. Your own piggy bank. If they (or you) don’t believe in you or your ideas enough to drop 1k or 2k checks - neither will most smart angels. These people are the best judges of your character and if they won’t back you - most people won’t. Once they’ve backed you their intros mean a lot more to folks like me.
4. You might need an accelerator. I know these days a lot of founders especially on the continent have their nose in the air when it comes to accelerators. The truth is the right accelerators are great ways to validate your business and build an audience for fundraising from angels you don’t know. Don’t look down on it.
5. Build a profitable business as fast as you can. The days of raising money as infintum are over. There are two ways to build a profitable business - cut costs and increase revenue. In the early days of Andela, we mooched off people for offices until we could afford our own. At Flutterwave I had no salary for the first year until our infrastructure costs were covered. It’s not comfortable but it’s worth it.
So please startups - ditch that million dollar pitch deck idea and let’s get to building something real.
