Most fund managers think fundraising is about the “pitch”. It's not.

It's about the convergence of two things: what you believe about yourself, and what you've actually proven with your own capital.

Stuart Wilde called this the Dollar Dance. We wrote about him yesterday. He is important. 

In fund formation, it works like this:

Part One: The Head Game

You have to genuinely believe you deserve institutional capital. Not as ego. As clarity. You've got a real thesis. You've deployed capital intelligently. You understand risk. You're a worthy steward of capital.

If you don't believe this deeply, it shows. 

LPs feel the hesitation. They sense your inner feelings of scarcity. I sense it. Our team members feel it.

Your fundraising slows. Your velocity eventually tanks, if it hasn’t already. You become the guy or the woman begging for commitments instead of the guyn or woman LPs want to chase.

What I am talking about is internal work. Spiritual work. This is shadow work.

This is the kind of stuff that people talk about in therapy, 12-step meetings and parked cars.

It's closing the emotional distance between you, and the capital you deserve to manage.

Part Two: The Economic Proof

That said, belief without proof is delusion.

You need skin in the game. Real skin. 

Like your own capital, deployed. 

Your own net worth at risk. When I speak to a $25M fund with 4 GPs? Yeah, no.

Track record of returns on previous capital. Undeniable evidence that you're not just talking about discipline, you're living it.

This is what separates conviction from Dungeons and Dragons fantasy.

The Convergence

When both are present, something shifts. 

You walk into an LP meeting operating from abundance consciousness (Part One) backed by undeniable proof (Part Two). That’s what locks a deal.

LPs sense it. Suddenly they're not evaluating whether to “take a chance on you”. They're evaluating, “Is this a deal we can get into?” 

The Trap

Most GPs have it backwards. They either:

• Have skin in the game but operate from scarcity (“Can I get this  LPs to believe in me?”)
• Operate from abundance consciousness but have zero real commitment (LPs sense they are fake immediately)

The real move requires both. Conviction and commitment. Belief and proof.

Size Matters, But Selectivity Matters More

Raising $20M from a $200M+ LP? Institutional. Smart. Signals you know your lane.

Raising $20M and pitching every family office under $100M that will take a meeting? 

That's desperation. That's broadcasting scarcity. LPs feel it and smell it

They do not need to run from you. They just archive the email.

True abundance consciousness includes knowing who deserves your capital. It includes being selective about LPs the same way you demand they be selective about you.

When you know, you know.

The Real Test

A GP with actual conviction says: "We're raising $20M. We're targeting institutional LPs at $150M+. We're not taking smaller checks. That's not our market."

That posture alone changes the energy. Suddenly you're not desperate. You're discerning. LPs chase you because you're willing to walk away. Your willingness to walk is good for these LPs.

What This Means

Your fundraising velocity isn't determined by how hard you work or how many pitches you do. It's determined by the convergence of two things: what you actually believe about yourself, and what you've proven with your own capital.

Close the gap between those two things and your raise accelerates. Everything else is noise.

Closing a slow fundraise requires more than strategy. You need to transform how you think about capital, yourself, and what you deserve. 

Capital OS Premium helps you integrate that transformation into your actual fundraising mechanics - two hours per week, real guidance.

If you're ready to stop surrendering to slow fundraising timelines and start claiming your power, we show GPs how to do this in Capital OS Premium. Two hours per week. Real guidance. Real velocity.

You'll know when you're ready. When you are, join us.

Watch Capital OS Premium Video or join us in Capital OS Premium.

-ajm