--- title: "Intanify Insights - How investors look at a startup pitch: Insights from Richard Blakesley at Venture Cubed" description: "šŸŽ™ How investors look at a startup pitch: Insights from Richard Blakesley at Venture Cubed\n\nIn our latest Intanify Insights interview, CEO Dylan Dryden spoke with Richard Blakesley, a seasoned expert in startup evaluation and fundraising. Richardā€™s journey has included being Managing Director at JP Morgan heading Tech investment banking, a founder, CEO and investor. Notably, 80% of his Capital Pilotā€™s Boost Fundā€™s investments have survived, a striking contrast vs the 10% of startups that do. His latest endeavour, Venture Cubed, uses AI to advise VCs and others to pick likely winners from thousands of incoming decks.\n\nRichard has an authoritative view on how great startups preset themselves and was kind enough to share his wisdom. The conversation included:\n\nšŸ“– Crafting a Clear Narrative: Richard underscored the importance of a compelling and focused pitch that resonates with investor priorities and cuts through the noise (2,000 of the 50,000-150,000 startups are funded in the UK).\n\nšŸ“Š Metrics That Matter: He detailed how to align your business story with growth metrics, and that there are no points for being conservative.\n\nā˜Æļø The yin and yang of entrepreneurship: How to believe absolutely while being humble about the low odds.\n\nšŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚ļø Avoiding Common Pitfalls: From misaligned projections to lacklustre storytelling, Richard highlighted the key mistakes that undermine investor trust and how to avoid them.\n\nWant to sharpen your pitch? Watch the full conversation [here ā€“ insert link].\n\nšŸ’” For startups preparing to raise funds, whatā€™s the one question youā€™d ask an experienced investor? Share your thoughts below!\n\n#Startup #Funding #FundRaising" image: https://www.intanify.com/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-12-02%20at%2013.13.00.png --- [Skip to content](https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed#main-content) [![Colour=White, Size=Large](https://www.intanify.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Colour=White%2c%20Size=Large.png?width=311&height=80&name=Colour=White%2c%20Size=Large.png "Colour=White, Size=Large")](https://www.intanify.com/) [Back to Insights](https://insights.intanify.com/) 2 December, 2024 # Intanify Insights - How investors look at a startup pitch: Insights from Richard Blakesley at Venture Cubed [Dylan Dryden, CEO & Co-Founder](https://www.intanify.com/insights/author/dylan-dryden) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed) Ā  In our latestĀ Intanify InsightsĀ interview, CEO [Dylan Dryden](https://www.linkedin.com/#) spoke with [Richard Blakesley](https://www.linkedin.com/#), a seasoned expert in startup evaluation and fundraising. Richardā€™s journey has included being Managing Director at JP Morgan heading Tech investment banking, a founder, CEO and investor. Notably, 80% of his Capital Pilotā€™s Boost Fundā€™s investments have survived, a striking contrast vs the 10% of startups that do. His latest endeavour, Venture Cubed, uses AI to advise VCs and others to pick likely winners from thousands of incoming decks. Ā  [SOFTWARE](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/software), [RAISING FINANCE](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/raising-finance), [VALUATION](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/valuation), [STRATEGY](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/strategy) ## Related posts [![A practical guide for founders on identifying, protecting and presenting trade secrets to investorsā€”so your edge becomes part of your valuation.](https://www.intanify.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ilanit%20and%20Dylan.jpg?height=200&name=Ilanit%20and%20Dylan.jpg)](https://www.intanify.com/insights/ilanit-appelfeld) [RAISING FINANCE](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/raising-finance), [VALUATION](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/valuation), [TRADE SECRETS](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/trade-secrets) ## [Intanify Insights - Ilanit Appelfeld on trade secrets, funding and exit](https://www.intanify.com/insights/ilanit-appelfeld) [Dylan Dryden, CEO & Co-Founder](https://www.intanify.com/insights/author/dylan-dryden) 15 April, 2025 [Read more](https://www.intanify.com/insights/ilanit-appelfeld) [![](https://www.intanify.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CarlWeir.png?height=200&name=CarlWeir.png)](https://www.intanify.com/insights/intanify-insights-carl-weir-on-the-hidden-value-of-data) [DATA](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/data), [RAISING FINANCE](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/raising-finance), [VALUATION](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/valuation) ## [Intanify Insights - Carl Weir on the hidden value of data](https://www.intanify.com/insights/intanify-insights-carl-weir-on-the-hidden-value-of-data) [Dylan Dryden, CEO & Co-Founder](https://www.intanify.com/insights/author/dylan-dryden) 10 June, 2025 [Read more](https://www.intanify.com/insights/intanify-insights-carl-weir-on-the-hidden-value-of-data) [![](https://www.intanify.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Intanify%20interview%20Ian%20Rose-post%20funding.png?height=200&name=Intanify%20interview%20Ian%20Rose-post%20funding.png)](https://www.intanify.com/insights/intanify-insights-before-you-raise-know-what-you-own-and-what-options-there-are) [RAISING FINANCE](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/raising-finance), [VALUATION](https://www.intanify.com/insights/tag/valuation) ## [Intanify Insights - Before you raise, know what you own and what options that gives you](https://www.intanify.com/insights/intanify-insights-before-you-raise-know-what-you-own-and-what-options-there-are) [Dylan Dryden, CEO & Co-Founder](https://www.intanify.com/insights/author/dylan-dryden) 5 August, 2025 [Read more](https://www.intanify.com/insights/intanify-insights-before-you-raise-know-what-you-own-and-what-options-there-are) [Go home](https://www.intanify.com/) [Follow us on Facebook](mailto:hello@intanify.com) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/company/intanify/) [![intanify_logo_white_transparent_bg](https://www.intanify.com/hs-fs/hubfs/intanify_logo_white_transparent_bg.png?width=200&height=51&name=intanify_logo_white_transparent_bg.png "intanify_logo_white_transparent_bg")](https://www.intanify.com) Copyright Ā© 2026, Intanify Limited ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dylan Dryden, CEO & Co-Founder", "url" : "https://www.intanify.com/insights/author/dylan-dryden" }, "dateModified" : "2024-12-02T13:15:04.693Z", "datePublished" : "2024-12-02T13:15:04.000Z", "headline" : "Intanify Insights - How investors look at a startup pitch: Insights from Richard Blakesley at Venture Cubed", "image" : [ "https://www.intanify.com/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-12-02%20at%2013.13.00.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.intanify.com/insights/richard-blakesley-venture-cubed", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.intanify.com/hubfs/intanify_logo_black.svg" }, "name" : "Intanify" } } ```