Forget About FOMO: My Conversation with Russ Fradin
Fundraising is the ultimate test of self-awareness for a founder. The process strips away pretense and demands the truth, fast. As the CEO and co-founder of Adify, Dynamic Signal, and now, Larridin, Russ Fradin has raised over a billion in capital and lived through every phase of the venture journey. Russ was early in Internet 1.0 (Flycast, Comscore, Wine.com), has worked with top-tier VCs like Fred Wilson and David Cowen, and has a rare, multi-generational vantage on Silicon Valley’s evolution. Russ truly brings a wealth of experience to the table.
Here’s what I learned from our conversation:
1. Know your weaknesses, and face them head on.
Russ is adamant: founders must have the most honest, unfiltered assessment of their business—strengths AND weaknesses—long before they send a deck to an investor’s inbox. If you’re “prettifying” your business for the pitch without actually solving the issues you’re disguising, you are not ready. The best fundraising starts with deep reflection about what’s actually working and what’s not. That honesty carries through the fundraise and is what investors trust most.
And if fundraising is impossibly hard, something’s off. It’s not just a matter of more meetings - the only fix is to make the business more investable in the first place.
2. Make fundraising energizing, not demoralizing.
Many founders dread fundraising because of fear of rejection. Russ’s perspective is refreshing: if you can set aside that stress, fundraising is a rare opportunity to get free feedback from some of the smartest, most positive people in tech. Good VCs show up every day hoping to hear the wild vision that could change the world. You’ll never get this concentration of brainpower anywhere else. Treat fundraising as inspiration instead of a crucible.
3. Humility wins every time.
The strategy of creating FOMO by treating VCs like they’re the lucky ones? Russ says it’s nonsense. The best fundraiser—and founder—pairs deep confidence in themselves with pure humility and appreciation for anyone willing to bet on them. Founders who walk in believing every meeting is a privilege for BOTH parties build real relationships. Investors partner with people they trust, so don’t fake humility—live it.
Russ’s skills are legendary, but behind those skills are the inspirational character attributes of honesty, humility, and relentless focus on improving the reality of the business - not just the story you tell about it. And across dozens of companies and hundreds of rounds, those are the characteristics that I have seen most influential to winning a capital advantage for you and your company. .
For more wisdom from expert founders and fundraisers, hit subscribe here on Substack. And catch Raiser’s Edge on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts for more conversations with the people who really know how capital gets raised—and how businesses get built.
Stay sharp,
Ben