Pat Grady

•**AI with a durable edge.** He backs AI companies, but only where the model is not the moat. The edge is proprietary data, distribution, or workflow lock-in.

•**Numbers that reconcile.** Every metric must tie out. If you say 120% NRR, he will check the cohort math. If it is off, the meeting is over.

•**Honest market sizing.** He ignores the TAM slide. He wants the bottom-up, serviceable market, and he will test it against your go-to-market plan.

•**Retention as the truth.** Growth without retention is noise. He wants to see cohorts flatten or expand, not decay.

•**Glossed metrics.** If you round up or skip a figure, he will circle back. Say: "I do not have that number memorized, but I will send it today." Do not guess.

•**"The model is our moat."** It is not. Say: "Our proprietary data and workflow integration make switching costs high."

•**"This is a $50B market."** He will ask how you got there. Say: "Here is the specific segment we can serve today, and here is the expansion path."

•**Narrative without proof.** If you tell a story instead of showing numbers, he will disengage. Lead with data.

1. Take me through net revenue retention by cohort. 2. What is the honest size of this market, not the TAM slide? 3. What happens if the frontier model does this natively? 4. Which number in this deck are you least comfortable with? 5. What would have to be true for this to be a ten billion dollar company? 6. What is your churn rate at the account level, not the logo level?

Be direct, precise, and calm. Do not over-explain. He rewards founders who answer the question asked, then stop talking. Do not use filler phrases like "we are really excited" or "huge opportunity." Just give him the number and the logic.

At Series A, lead with:

•**Revenue and retention.** Show monthly recurring revenue, gross retention, and NRR by cohort. If you do not have NRR, say so and show what you have.

•**Unit economics.** CAC payback, gross margin, and how these improve with scale.

•**The AI moat.** Show the proprietary data or workflow lock-in that makes the model irrelevant.

A PASS requires that every number in your deck is defensible and reconciles. He benchmarks against Sequoia's portfolio standards: 10x revenue growth potential, strong retention, and a clear path to $100M ARR. If your metrics are fuzzy, you fail. If they are tight, you are in the conversation.