Robert Harary found his first venture deal while in high school detention, and hasn’t looked back since.

Today, he sits at the center of the venture ecosystem as both an investor and founder, with a decade-plus obsession for making access to capital more transparent, efficient, and equitable.

Robert is the #2 at Evolution VC Partners, where he’s been part of 300+ Culture Tech investments. He runs Timeless Ventures as GP, and has investments in companies like Colossal, Figure AI, and Sindarin. On the founder side, he co-founded DECKO (helping 300+ startups and funds raise $1.2B+) and Raisi (bringing founders in front of 2,000+ investors monthly).

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In this conversation, we break down:

Why access to capital, not ideas, is the biggest bottleneck for founders
How Robert evaluates moonshots (and why he backed OpenAI early)
Lessons learned from co-founding DECKO and Weraise
Where the venture ecosystem is failing—and what needs to change
His belief that democratizing capital will unlock the next wave of transformative companies

Chapters

00:00 The Utopian World of Fundraising
06:40 The Evolution of Pitch Decks
13:16 Crafting the Perfect Pitch Deck
20:12 Understanding Investor Psychology
21:59 Cold Outreach and Investor Engagement
23:50 The Three Pillars of Startup Success
26:08 Effective Cold Email Strategies
28:29 The Art of Storytelling in Fundraising
32:40 Investor Marketing as a Relationship Game
39:14 Building Long-Term Investor Relationships

Guest Bio

Robert Harary is an investor, founder, and venture capitalist obsessed with making capital access more equitable. He is a GP at Timeless Ventures, #2 at Evolution VC Partners (300+ Culture Tech investments), and an angel investor in moonshots, including OpenAI and Colossal. He has co-founded DECKO and Weraise, platforms that have helped 300+ startups and funds raise $1.2B+ from Sequoia, a16z, Accel, YC, and others.

Who Should Listen

Founders frustrated by investor access or gatekeeping
Investors curious about democratized deal flow
Operators interested in the “deck science” behind successful fundraising
Anyone tracking moonshot bets reshaping the future

Music Credit

“Neptuno” – Phondupe (Album: Onykia)

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