How do CEE founders run a first VC call?
Talk for a few minutes, then let the investor in. On a typical first call between founders and BADideas, the investor asked the first real question about 9 minutes in; on a quarter of calls it took 16 minutes or more. About half of founders opened with their own background (49%), and their calls ran longer before the first question.
The figures
| First calls | Median minutes |
|---|---|
| Until the investor's first question | 9 |
| Until the first question, founder opened with their background | 12 |
| Until the first question, founder opened with the product | 6 |
| Until the founder's first number about the company | 10 |
On 13% of first calls the founder never stated a number about the company's own traction. In BADideas founder calls, opening with the product brought the investor into the conversation about 6 minutes sooner than opening with the founder's story.
| Number | Founder said it unprompted | Investor had to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | 67% | 31% |
| Round size | 59% | 38% |
| Revenue | 49% | 34% |
| Pricing | 50% | 20% |
| Unit economics | 24% | 25% |
| Valuation | 26% | 21% |
| Growth rate | 18% | 4% |
| Retention or churn | 15% | 12% |
What is changing
| First calls where the founder opened with their own background | 2025 | 2026 (to date) |
|---|---|---|
| Share of first calls | 39% | 58% |
What it means for you
- Open with what the product does and for whom. Your background matters, but it can come in one sentence; investors want to start asking.
- Put your best number in the first few minutes. Customers, revenue or a signed pilot: said early, it frames every question after it.
- Plan for a short pitch. Even a warm introduction buys limited attention, and investors interrupt early; a pitch that works in about two minutes leaves room for the questions that decide.
- Have the money numbers ready. Round size, revenue and customers are what investors ask for most when a founder does not volunteer them.
- Treat questions as the pitch. The call goes best when it turns into a conversation early.
Related questions
Should I start a pitch with my background?
About half of founders do, and those calls run longer before the investor asks anything. One sentence on why you are the right team, then the product, works better. Investors ask about the team when they want more: about a third of first calls have a question on it.
When should I mention traction on a pitch call?
In the first few minutes. On a typical first call the founder's first number came around minute 10, and on 13% of calls it never came.
How we measured it
- Source: applications founders sent to BADideas, plus public information where we found it.
- Limits: only early-stage companies that applied to a single fund.
- On this page: Minutes are read from the transcript timestamps; a number counts when it is about the company's own traction (customers, revenue, users, growth). Recorded calls only; an in-person meeting may run differently.
- Updated: 13 October 2026.
BADideas.fund, "How do CEE founders run a first VC call?", updated 13 October 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/first-pitch-call-vc-cee
Read next
- What do CEE founders ask VCs on first calls?
- What do CEE VCs ask on a first pitch call?
- How many competitors do CEE decks name?
Who we are
We are a pre-seed and seed fund for founders in Central and Eastern Europe. We have built and sold companies ourselves, and since 2022 we have backed more than 40.
We back founders who see something about their market that others do not see yet. They want to change how a whole industry works, and they start small.
Good founders rarely fail on the idea or the product. They fail on selling it. We give your company hands-on help from go-to-market operators who grew Zendesk, Square and Scale AI.