https://youtu.be/saTVtle091Q?si=uHN2ez7zJXQeX4aa

Ari Gold tells an actor: “I don’t represent talent, I represent temperature. And right now, you’re not hot.”

This is the founder-VC dynamic.

Early stage VCs don’t fund the best ideas or smartest founders. They fund momentum. They fund companies that other VCs want to fund. They fund “temperature.”

Most founders think they need perfect products or validated markets. But VCs make social decisions, not analytical ones. They’re asking: “Is this founder hot right now?”

Temperature comes from speed and FOMO. When you go all in—hire the best people, move aggressively, make bold bets—you generate heat. Other smart people want in. Momentum becomes self-reinforcing.

When you play it safe—preserve runway, test small, hire carefully—you stay cold. No matter how good your fundamentals, cold companies don’t get funded.

The founders who understand this deploy everything toward creating heat: exceptional team, rapid progress, compelling narrative. VCs will say they’re investing in your vision or market. But they’re really investing in your temperature.

Deploy everything. Generate heat. Stay hot