Soraya built the firm to enable breakthrough entrepreneurs with the capital and go-to-market expertise required to reach a major inflection point of growth. She has invested in over 100 startups in her career, including Anthropic, FIGS, Cityblock Health, Kindbody, Roon, Forta Health, Ridwell, Casper, Hungryroot, Clockwise, Scope3, Mavely, Yoke, Millie Clinic, Portcast, Bridge Money, Topline Pro, Tutored by Teachers, Fi, Freightify, Smalls, Gimlet Media at early rounds of financing. Pre-IPO, Cloudflare.
Soraya began her career at The New York Times, where she positioned the global news leader on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, partnered with startups large and small, and established award-winning campaigns. She went on to co-found the application Foodspotting, named by Apple and Wired Magazine as an “App of the Year," later acquired by OpenTable, then Priceline.
She graduated with high honors from Georgetown University and completed the Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century program at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Soraya currently serves on the Board of Directors for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and lives in New York City with her family.
Fundraising today is as much about personal conviction as it is about market traction. In a dynamic, often oversaturated capital environment, how can you stand out not just as a business, but as a leader worth betting on?
In a recent Masterclass, TMV founder and managing partner Soraya Darabi offered a compelling roadmap for navigating the fundraising process in 2025. Drawing from her experience investing in over 100 startups (including Anthropic, Hungryroot, Kindbody, and Gimlet Media), she pulled back the curtain on what gets a “yes,” what still holds women founders back—and why storytelling, systems, and self-awareness matter more than ever.
Here are the core takeaways for any leader looking to refine their pitch and build their investor network.
Before you ever open a pitch deck or craft a mission statement, Soraya urges founders to get clear on something more foundational: their why. Why this idea? Why now? And most importantly, why you?
She recommends stepping back to examine your own life narrative to uncover the motivations driving your venture. This personal clarity becomes the cornerstone of your pitch. “You want people to remember you,” Soraya said. “Not just what you said, but how you made them feel. Your story is what lands.”
In a world where every founder is competing for attention, the most effective ones lead with authenticity and anchor their vision in something bigger and more personal than a business model.
Fundraising isn’t just about relationships or luck but more about persuasive communication. And whether you're pitching investors, partners, or potential donors, the core mechanics are the same.
Soraya frames fundraising as a life skill - “sales” in its broadest and most essential form. “We sell ideas every day,” she said. “To our spouses, our colleagues, our communities. Being able to move someone with your words is everything.”
She especially encourages women to audit their speech patterns, drop apologetic language, and embrace confidence, even if they have to fake it at first. Tools like Orai can help sharpen verbal presence, but the real transformation comes from learning to own the room, not just fill it.
Behind every successful capital raise is a repeatable process. Soraya emphasized that founders should approach fundraising like building a product: with clear ownership, streamlined tools, and measurable systems.
Her team at TMV uses a layered tech stack: Affinity for contact management, Mixmax for email insights, Notion for tracking pipeline stages, and AI agents like Zams.com to surface investor leads. The result? A methodical, collaborative fundraising machine that eliminates guesswork and maximizes time.
“Everyone on your team should own a piece of the process,” she explained. “It’s not just about who you know—it’s about how you manage what you know.”
The scrappiest founders don’t just hustle, they document, delegate, and optimize.
One of the most striking parts of the Masterclass was Soraya’s callout of the gendered nuances in fundraising. While women often outperform in EQ and preparation, she noted, they can still falter in perceived believability.
“Believability is about more than experience, it’s about how confidently you deliver your vision,” she said. “Do you speak like someone who can actually build this?”
She pointed to the concept of information asymmetry, when a founder has unique insight or lived expertise others don’t, as a key ingredient of conviction. Combine that with smart storytelling and a no-apologies delivery, and you shift from pitching a possibility to presenting a reality.
Perhaps the most generous insight Soraya shared was about unlocking early momentum: find one credible champion and turn them into a magnet.
Her advice? Start with a high-profile or trusted contact, ask for a small check, and request 20 warm intros over the next two years. “Pre-write the emails for them,” she added. “Make it easy—and make sure they’re already committed. That’s what makes the introduction land.”
This warm-intro strategy not only builds investor trust—it also builds your own confidence. By the time you’ve landed your first few “yeses,” you’re not just telling people you’re backed—you feel backed.
And when you share those names? Do it with elegance. Name-drop in the appendix, not the headline. “Let your network work for you,” Soraya said, “but never let it speak louder than your vision.”
Fundraising in 2025 is no longer just a game of numbers or connections—it’s a practice in intention. When you start with purpose, back it up with data, build with systems, and ask with confidence, you don’t just raise capital—you raise belief. “Sales is about how we weave our asks into conversation,” Soraya reminded us. “When done well, it doesn’t feel blunt. It feels inevitable.”
