By: Joshua Finley

For most company founders, fundraising means putting their business on hold for months at a time. While seeking capital is crucial for growth, the process has traditionally been time-consuming and complex. Vlad Cazacu, Co-founder & CEO of Flowlie, is addressing this challenge with technology that has supported the facilitation of significant funding.

After spending his career in venture capital and participating in numerous transactions, Vlad noticed a persistent problem: founders were spending too much time on administrative tasks instead of running their businesses. This observation led him to develop Flowlie, a platform that aims to improve how founders approach fundraising.

Transforming Fundraising with Technology

Originally from Bucharest, Romania, Vlad’s journey took him through several major U.S. cities before landing in Miami. “I made my way south from Rochester, NY, to New York City, to Austin, and now Miami,” he notes with a smile. “I like to joke that that’s the southernmost I’m going to get—before going back to the northeast.”

His background includes roles at three venture firms and a multi-family office group – an unusual career path that gave him unique insights into early-stage company funding. Throughout his time in venture capital, Vlad focused primarily on B2B companies, leading SPVs in several ventures and gaining valuable insights into the fundraising process.

Shifting Focus from Investors to Founders

Flowlie didn’t start as a founder-focused platform. “Our original product came from our life as investors. We were just hoping to replace the investor analysis, we were 180 degrees on the other side of the market,” Vlad explains. “We realized early on that VCs are terrible customers. When you look at how venture capital works, they’re raising funds every two, three, four years. That’s the only time when they actually unlock a new budget for your product.”

This realization prompted a complete pivot. Instead of serving investors, Flowlie began focusing on founders – particularly those who already understood fundraising basics but needed to optimize their process. The platform now offers tools for investor research, relationship management, and meeting analysis, designed to help founders streamline their fundraising process.

Delivering Impact for Founders

The numbers speak for themselves. Flowlie has supported thousands of founders from around the world, with users finding the platform through word of mouth. “Most CEOs are stopping to operate their companies when they go fundraising,” Vlad points out. “Fundraising is highly disruptive to their schedule, but you have to do it right because you have to get the money. Otherwise, how are you going to pay the salaries and grow the business?”

Drawing from both sides of the investment table, Vlad shares three essential insights for founders:

• Default Optimism with Perspective: “You have to be default optimistic about the future,” he explains. “You kind of always have to see that you’re at 1% of your journey and that there’s still 99% left to build.” This mentality helps maintain drive while acknowledging how much opportunity lies ahead.
• Emotional Resilience: Running an early-stage company requires extraordinary emotional strength. As one founder told Vlad, “Building a company feels like you’re about to open a bottle of champagne at 2 p.m., and then by 4 p.m., you’re already crying on the bathroom floor.” This emotional rollercoaster is normal – handling it well is crucial.
• Maintain Childlike Curiosity: “You have to have almost a childish level of belief that you can do it,” Vlad states. Drawing from his psychology background, he notes, “All fears are learned, we were not born with them.” This perspective helps overcome the natural doubts that arise when building something new.

Vlad, who also authored “When They Win, You Win” about building entrepreneurial communities, sees Flowlie as part of a larger movement toward more efficient private markets. By helping founders spend less time on fundraising and more time on building, Flowlie aims to improve access to capital for innovative companies.

To learn more about Vlad Cazacu and Flowlie’s innovative approach to fundraising optimization, visit his website.

Published by Charlie N.