Soft circle

Definition

A verbal yes an investor has not signed or funded anything to back up.

Why It Matters

It is the number a raise dies on: soft circles are collected early, counted as progress, and fall out at the rate people change their minds, so a searcher who adds them to their committed total is reading a figure that has never been true. Treat one as a conversation that went well and nothing else, and ask what would turn it into a signature.

In numbers: Six investors soft-circle $600,000 between them. Four sign for $380,000, one goes quiet, and one asks to see a live deal first; the raise was never at $600,000.