During a Series A fundraise, founders text and call me constantly. I love it. Serving as a thought partner, giving rapid counsel. That's the job.

One particular founder called me maybe 10 times in a single day. We were negotiating terms with a couple of potential leads and about to make a decision on who to go with. On one of those late night calls, he says to me (I'm paraphrasing): "You know, I called you so many times today that I just decided to change your name in my phone to Better Call Zal. You know, like the TV show."

I laughed and laughed. It was so perfect. It's how you pronounce my name (rhymes with Saul). And hopefully, it's the tagline for every Refactor founder.

They know they can pick up the phone, shoot me a text, and I'll answer immediately. Mostly. If not, they'll get a ring back in minutes. Waiting until the next day, or even a few hours, doesn't cut it in our world. Things move fast. Founders are in desperate need of immediate help as they work through a problem or an opportunity. I want to be available for them.

Building trust, transparency, and hopefully lifelong friendships. It's why I do this. And why I do this solo, which lets me spend nearly all of my time with founders. Keeping my fund size the same makes fundraising with LPs faster, so I can focus on the job at hand. I've had the same loyal LP group for a while now. That helps tremendously.

So if you're a founder building something hard, and you want a partner who actually picks up the phone, you know what to do.

#BetterCallZal

‍

‍