Intro.
#The 6 Axes of a VC's First Meeting — Where the Cuts Happen
The order in which a seed VC reviews an IR deck in a first meeting is fairly fixed. Here's the typical cut pattern in the Korean seed market, along with each axis's weight.
| Axis | Weight | What the VC Checks in the First 30 Seconds | Cut Signal |
|---|
| 1. Team | 50% | Founder-Problem Fit, track record | No direct interviews conducted; only outside advisors get emphasized |
| 2. Pain (market pain point) | 25% | Number of users, quantified pain | Abstract problem statement, 'many people find this inconvenient' |
| 3. Market size | 15% | TAM/SAM/SOM math and sources | Top-down only, round numbers like '₩1 trillion' |
| 4. Business model / unit economics | 10% | Bottom-up revenue model | Subscription mixed with a mom-and-pop-style business model |
| 5. Technical differentiation | (bonus) | Clear What/How, MVP validation | Only 'what,' no 'how' |
| 6. Deal structure | (bonus) | Valuation, SAFE/convertible note, option pool | Unrealistic valuation, no reasonable justification |
By Mashup Angels' standard, axes 1 and 2 (team at 50% + pain at 25%) determine 75% of the overall outcome. If these two axes are weak, you get cut no matter how good the market looks. Conversely, if these two are strong, you move to a second meeting even with a weaker market or business model.
02
#Mapping OpenSeed's 15 Reviewers to the VC's 6 Axes
Here are the reviewers that get automatically matched during an OpenSeed seed-IR analysis, and which VC axis each one digs into.
| Reviewer | Primary Axis | What Kind of Comments They Leave |
|---|
| Team-fit reviewer | 1. Team | Founder-Problem Fit, track record, interview evidence |
| Problem-recognition reviewer | 2. Pain | User specificity, quantified pain, number of interviews |
| Market-viability reviewer | 3. Market | TAM/SAM/SOM math, sources, bottom-up validation |
| Business-model reviewer | 4. Business model | Mom-and-pop vs. J-curve classification, LTV/CAC, churn |
| Technical-differentiation reviewer | 5. Technology | What/How distinction, technical moat, MVP data |
| Deal-structure reviewer | 6. Deal | Valuation rationality, SAFE/convertible note, option pool size |
| IC Chair | Overall | A combined 6-axis verdict plus likelihood of a second meeting |
These 7 reviewers make up your first-pass evaluation of a seed IR. For specialized fields like impact investing, deep tech, or social ventures, additional specialist reviewers get matched automatically.
03
#IR Deck Slide Order — How the 6 Axes Get Distributed
Checking which slide each of the VC's 6 axes shows up on, in a standard IR deck (10–12 slides), makes it clear which OpenSeed reviewer's comments to check first for each slide.
| Slide | VC Axis | OpenSeed Reviewer |
|---|
| 1. One-line pitch / problem | Pain | Problem-recognition reviewer |
| 2. Market size | Market | Market-viability reviewer |
| 3. Solution — What | Technical differentiation | Technical reviewer (Why) |
| 4. Solution — How | Technical differentiation | Technical reviewer (How/MVP) |
| 5. Traction and metrics | Pain + business model | Business-model and problem-recognition reviewers |
| 6. Business model / revenue model | Business model | Business-model reviewer |
| 7. Competition and differentiation | Technology | Market-viability and technical reviewers |
| 8. Team | Team | Team-fit reviewer |
| 9. Roadmap | Team + deal | Team and deal reviewers |
| 10. The ask (how much, why) | Deal | Deal-structure reviewer |
If slides 1 and 2 are weak, the VC's first impression sets before they even reach slide 3. If the reviewers corresponding to slides 1 and 2 (problem-recognition, market-viability) show low ratings in your OpenSeed Round 1, strengthen those first.
04
#The Seed-IR Workflow — Cold Email → OpenSeed → VC Meeting
A seed round typically takes 4–7 months. Here's the recommended flow for when to run OpenSeed within that window for maximum efficiency.
| Stage | Week | OpenSeed Round | Main Task |
|---|
| IR deck draft | Weeks 1–2 | Round 1 (check) | Submit all 10 slides as-is → identify cut-risk axes |
| Round 1 revision | Weeks 3–4 | Round 2 | Strengthen the team and pain slides (75% of the weight) |
| Start cold emailing | Weeks 5–6 | — | Begin matching with VCs using an already-validated IR |
| Right before the VC meeting | Weeks 8–10 | Round 3 (final) | Pre-simulate with an avatar matched to the VC's style |
| After feedback from the first meeting | Weeks 12–16 | Round 4 | Compare real VC comments against OpenSeed's |
Before you start cold emailing (weeks 5–6), you should finish OpenSeed Round 2 and proceed with an IR that received a 'meeting-ready' verdict. Send cold emails with an unvalidated IR, and you risk getting labeled a 'known weak IR' in the seed market — a reputation that's hard to recover from.
05
#The 5 Most Common Cut Patterns — OpenSeed's Detection Signals
There are recurring patterns that get seed VCs to cut a candidate immediately in the first meeting. Here's how OpenSeed detects each one.
| Cut Pattern | OpenSeed Detection Signal | Direction to Fix |
|---|
| Slide 8 (team) emphasizes only outside advisors | Team reviewer flags 'weak FPF' | Add co-founder backgrounds and interview counts |
| Slides 1–2 (problem/market) stay abstract | Problem-recognition reviewer flags 'lacks specificity' | Cite direct interviews with N users |
| Slide 6 (business model) reads as a mom-and-pop business | Business-model reviewer flags 'mom-and-pop-style BM' | Shift toward a J-curve model like subscription or B2B licensing |
| Slides 3–4 (solution) show only 'What' | Technical reviewer flags 'missing How' | Add one paragraph on 'How' plus an MVP screenshot |
| Slide 10 (ask) has an unreasonable valuation | Deal reviewer flags 'valuation lacks justification' | Add pre-money math and comparable-company data |
If even one of these 5 patterns applies to your IR deck, OpenSeed's Round 1 will catch it. Catching it before you send your first cold email is what matters.
06
#Choosing an OpenSeed Avatar by VC Style
Beyond the 7 core reviewers, OpenSeed lets you add certified VC/accelerator avatars. Pre-simulating with an avatar whose style is close to the actual VC you'll be meeting makes your pre-meeting check more accurate.
| VC Style | Matching OpenSeed Avatar | What to Pre-Check |
|---|
| Market-size-first (Tier-1 SaaS VC) | Series A specialist avatar | TAM math, signals of global PMF |
| Founder-grit-first (seed specialist) | Seed specialist avatar | Team track record, commitment to the problem |
| Technical-moat-first (deep-tech VC) | B2B infrastructure reviewer avatar | Patents, papers, technical deep-dive |
| Impact-focused (e.g., Yellowdog) | Climate-tech avatar | Quantified social value, 3-axis impact model |
In OpenSeed's Step 1, select the 'seed IR' stage, then add 1–2 additional avatars — the 7 core reviewers plus 2 avatars means 9 evaluations run simultaneously.
Summary.
#Cold Email Only Gets You So Far — What OpenSeed Can't Simulate
There are areas OpenSeed doesn't catch well in a seed-IR analysis. These need to be covered by your own network instead.
- A specific VC partner's personal preferences — avatars can partially simulate this, but not 100%
- Timing (a given VC fund's remaining life and deal-flow appetite) — that requires an external tool like a fund finder
- Actual cold-email reply rates — typically 1–5%, driven by many variables beyond IR quality
- Post-meeting investment-committee politics — this doesn't show up in the data
CTA
An OpenSeed seed-IR check won't directly raise your cold-email reply rate, but it's effective for building an IR that doesn't get cut in the first 30 minutes once a meeting is booked. Start your 6-axis diagnosis for free during the current beta period.
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