Maison Passerelle, Money, and the Messy Truth of First-Time Fundraising
The full squad at FTFFC Edition 002 | Pre-Seed AI Founders Building in NYC
First-Time Founders Food Club is a monthly series where world-class meals set the stage for raw, unfiltered conversations between first-time founders, early-stage investors, and a few special guests
This is a recap of thoughts and insights from Edition 002 held August 20th at Maison Passerelle in FiDiThe investor–founder dynamic has always been…a little weird. On one hand, founders are literally building the money-making machines investors should be scrambling to access. On the other, investors hold the short-term key—the capital to unlock the dream. For first-time founders without a track record, this often means navigating unnecessary hoops and a fair amount of BS just to take a real shot.
When I launched First-Time Founders Food Club, I wasn’t setting out to fix that. But something happens when you gather founders around a table, ask “What’s getting on your nerves right now?”, and let the realness flow. Last night it clicked: maybe the quiet mission here is to disrupt that hierarchy altogether.
Edition 002: Maison Passerelle
This month we dined at Maison Passerelle, a new Haitian-French fusion restaurant tucked inside Printemps, led by James Beard Award–winning chef Gregory Gourdet. Every single course hit.
The amuse bouche? A warm little concoction in a baby coffee mug that landed like an umami firework. Beets topped with a playful oat puff—excellent. A raw bar with the wildest oyster sauce—unreal. Grouper with peppers—who knew? And the steak. Ohhh, the steak. I need another one right now.
The service was thoughtful, the food impeccable, and the atmosphere the perfect backdrop to dig into the realities of raising capital, growing faster than you can manage, and convincing investors to take the bet.
James Beard Award-Winning Chef Gregory Gourdet at the helm of Maison Paserelle
Standout Fundraising Takeaways
Run a tight round. Run a tight round. Run a tight round. Put a timeline together, stick to it, and sprint. Especially if you’re building in a non-obvious space with a non-obvious background—you’ll need to go full velocity for ~3 months. Drag it out and you risk failing at both fundraising and building.
Don’t get stuck in investor situationships. Some firms move slow, sure. But there are questions to ask early to know if they’re serious:
Are you currently deploying?
What’s the size of your current fund?
Relationships matter. At the earliest stages, the financial model is likely to get blown up anyway. What matters is whether you are compelling enough that people want to work with you.
If you’re net new, de-risk yourself.
Tap into people they already trust.
Generate buzz around your unique perspective.
Use content—fast, free, effective.
Educate investors on the opportunity, but don’t bury them in detail.
And For the Investors Reading This
Stop being weird 🙂. Pass when you know it’s not a fit, do it with grace, and don’t waste founders’ time. Their time is oxygen—they need it to build. We can all chase returns and be decent humans.
Gratitude + What’s Next
Huge thanks to my co-hosts: Mia Farnham from Precursor Ventures and Megan (Ceryanec) Murphy from JPMorgan Chase. Your insights and perspectives shaped the night as much as the meal did.
Edition 003 is happening September 23, and I’m looking for first-time consumer AI founders building in Generative Media, Social Discovery, Food & Restaurant Tech, and Travel.
Know someone building in these spaces? Send them here 👇
👉 First-Time Founders Food Club Signup
What’s the First-Time Founders Food Club?
FTFFC is a monthly, invite-only dinner where we eat some of the best food NYC has to offer and have one no-holds-barred conversation. I’m the host—a former consumer travel founder turned VC girlie at Flybridge, writing pre-seed checks through Next Wave NYC. I love food, bringing good people together, and facilitating conversations that provoke thought, spark connection, and deliver results.
