Refactor Capital is a solo GP venture fund where founders get direct access to Zal as the only decision-maker, applying software operator experience from Google, Netflix, and LinkedIn to hard tech sectors like aerospace, synthetic biology, and energy storage that are typically backed by domain scientists rather than ex-consumer tech product managers. The fund leads seed rounds with $1-2M checks targeting 10% ownership across unusually broad hard-tech domains, backed by early hits like Solugen (which secured DOE financing comparable to Tesla's) and Astranis (pioneering MicroGEO satellites).
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Video Interview
On why cold emails need to work on a phone screen
"A lot of this processing for VCs is happening on cell phones, on mobile devices. If you have a deck that has a thousand words a slide, good luck... VCs are making a decision within 30 to 60 seconds of receiving that email, of reading that email, deciding whether they're going to yes, accept the intro, or no, say it's not a fit for me. You literally have 60 seconds with your blurb and your content, your deck, to make a first impression."
Zal Bilimoria | Refactor Capital
On the kind of founder he wants to back
"I want to find founders who are gonna be magnets for customers, talent, and investors. They have to be technically and commercially gifted in their areas in which they are building their business."
Zal Bilimoria | Refactor Capital
On the tells that kill a pitch meeting
"You can't just sit back and read a pitch for 30 minutes. I do have these sometimes, by the way, and you can really tell when a founder is literally reading something off of a screen and wants to get through the whole deck. These are telltale signs of someone who doesn't have confidence in their own storytelling abilities naturally to be able to go off the cuff and have that discussion."
Zal Bilimoria | Refactor Capital
On picking investors when you have options, aka the airport layover test
"Pick people that will pass the airport layover test. You're stuck in an airport with somebody for three hours. Are you looking to go sit at the bar and watch the game by yourself? Or are you looking to have a great conversation with somebody next to you about life, about politics, about their company, about their team, about everything under the sun?"
Zal Bilimoria | Refactor Capital
On why commercial traction unlocks your next round
"The faster you get some form of commercial and partner traction, the easier it is to raise follow on financing. It could be an LOI, it could be a pilot, it could be any number of things. The faster you get a third party to value your product and technology, the easier it is for a future VC to not have to do tons of de novo diligence on your technology."
Zal Bilimoria | Refactor Capital
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