What do founders do once they have an offer?

Of the 198 pitches that received at least one offer, 82% closed a deal. We looked at what founders did once offers were on the table. In 128 pitches the founder asked for a moment to think, and 86% of them closed. In 51 the founder named the investor they wanted, and 96% closed. In 37 the founder rejected an offer outright, and 43% still closed.

Walking away is left out: it ends with no deal by definition. Moves seen in fewer than 10 pitches are left out too.

This is a correlation, not advice to copy a move. Founders name an investor when they already like an offer, and they reject one when it is far from what they want. What the numbers do show is that a short pause to think did not cost founders the deal.