Raising Capital: Insights from Jenny Song of Navitas Capital
Raising capital in today’s market demands a level of precision, discipline, and market awareness that many founders are unprepared for. The era of abundant venture dollars and sky-high valuations has given way to a more measured environment—one where investors scrutinize not just vision, but fundamentals. Capital is still available, but it flows selectively toward founders who can clearly articulate their path to profitability, show traction with limited resources, and demonstrate deep insight into their market. For early-stage startups, success now hinges not on hype, but on clarity, execution, and strategic capital efficiency.
In this edition of the CRETI Investor Spotlight, we sat down with Jenny Song, Partner at Navitas Capital, to explore how today’s capital environment is reshaping early-stage investing. Drawing from her experience backing startups across the built environment and real asset sectors, Song offers a clear framework for navigating one of the most demanding fundraising climates in recent memory. Her insights cut through the noise and offer a grounded, thoughtful playbook for founders looking to build enduring companies in capital-constrained times.
Investor Psychology Has Changed
The capital markets have shifted meaningfully over the past 24 months. Limited partners are urging fund managers to prioritize capital preservation and downside protection. Venture firms, in turn, are deploying capital more selectively, particularly at the seed stage where risk is most concentrated. “We don’t take both technology risk and market risk at the same time,” Song explains. “That discipline has kept us from being seduced by hype.”
Founders must now understand not only the fundamentals of their own business, but the risk calculus of the people sitting across the table. Sophisticated investors still take risk, but they want to understand which risk they’re taking, why it’s worth underwriting, and how quickly it can be reduced. Raising capital today requires you to explain your risk stack with the same clarity as your product roadmap.
Capital Efficiency Is the Metric That Matters
“We generally avoid companies that we believe will be highly capital-intensive and where we’ll take heavy dilution over time,” Song states. That view is increasingly common among institutional investors. The days of raising capital “just in case” or to “fuel the vision” are over. The prevailing investor mindset now favors startups that can achieve meaningful progress—revenue, retention, product usage—without burning excessive capital.
For founders, this requires a reorientation. Can you validate product-market fit before scaling your team? Can you prove distribution advantages before building the infrastructure to serve national accounts? Capital efficiency is no longer a constraint; it is a core differentiator. Companies that demonstrate leverage early, through founder-led sales, viral loops, or embedded distribution-attract capital on more favorable terms and retain strategic control longer.
Markets Don’t Get Disrupted, Customers Do
Many founders believe they need to identify markets “primed for disruption.” But Song takes a more grounded view. “I don’t think there is such a thing as a market being ‘primed for disruption.’ Airbnb and Uber didn’t succeed because there was some big shift in the market; they succeeded because they served customers better through better technology. They drove the market disruption themselves.”
That distinction is critical. The best startups don’t chase timing, they chase value. Big, sleepy markets like hotels and taxis weren’t disrupted because of macro trends; they were disrupted because incumbents ignored consumer dissatisfaction. In today’s environment, being “early” is less important than being right. If you’re entering a market with entrenched players, you need a clear wedge—better pricing, faster implementation, a radically improved experience. If you're creating a new category, show that buyers are already searching for solutions, even if they can’t yet articulate what they need.
Go-to-Market Clarity Matters More Than Ever
Capital efficiency begins with go-to-market discipline. “Two years ago, speed and vision could get you funded. Now we’re asking whether you have unfair access to customers, differentiated distribution, or a wedge into an entrenched dynamic,” Song says.
At the seed stage, defensibility is rare. Product features can be copied. Time-to-market is collapsing. “If you’ve been building for a year, someone else can probably build what you have in less time now,” Song warns. What matters is velocity, market insight, and the team’s ability to execute under constraints. Network effects may exist in theory, but in reality, founders must prove distribution advantage and customer urgency before they can scale to a point where network effects can be proven.
Founders: You're Being Evaluated as a Leader
Ultimately, raising capital is a test of the founder—not just the product. At Navitas, Song and her team structure early meetings as workshops rather than pitches. “We want to talk through key ideas with the founder—maybe it’s mapping a new market, testing a new pricing structure, or increasing margins,” she explains. “We’re looking for three things: deep understanding, strategic thoughtfulness, and a willingness to engage in coaching and partnership.”
The most successful founders, in Song’s view, pair conviction with adaptability. “We love deep industry expertise—but it has to come with urgency, openness to feedback, and vision,” she says. Her ideal founding team is a combination of an industry-native commercial CEO and a high-velocity CTO with a track record in building scalable systems.
Repeat founders are not automatically favored. In fact, Song cautions against over-indexing on prior success. “The world of company-building has changed dramatically in the last five years. We want to know whether a repeat founder is still hungry, still learning, and still evolving. Success the first time doesn’t mean the second time will be easier.”
Earn the Right to Scale
In this market, raising capital is not about selling a dream—it’s about proving you’ve earned the right to take the next step. Investors like Jenny Song are not looking for noise. They’re looking for depth, clarity, and execution. If you're a founder preparing to fundraise, your job is to de-risk thoughtfully, operate efficiently, and lead decisively. Spend less time polishing your narrative, and more time refining your judgment. The best investors will notice the difference.
About CRETI Investor Spotlight
The CRETI Investor Spotlight series offers deep insights from the world’s top venture capital investors in proptech, construction tech, and the built environment. We explore frameworks, philosophies, and practical strategies for startup founders navigating today's complex capital markets.
