"It Just Needs Funding": The Most Dangerous Lie in Creative and Business Pitches Today

I’ve lost count of how many pitches I’ve sat through that ended with some version of this line:

"We’re ready to go, we just need funding."

It’s a phrase I’ve heard so often that I could recite it in my sleep, and every time I hear it, I know we’re about to have a hard conversation. Because in 2025, no project, whether in film, tech, media, or any other industry, is ever just one check away from becoming a reality.

This notion isn’t just naïve. It’s dangerous. It’s the kind of thinking that undermines serious creators and entrepreneurs, and it signals a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to secure investment. The truth is, no investor, not in 2025, not in this economic climate, is writing checks based on potential alone. The world has changed, and anyone still relying on the idea that passion or vision alone will unlock funding is setting themselves up for disappointment.

The capital markets have shifted. Investors are no longer just cautious; they’re strategic, data-driven, and unforgiving when they spot gaps. Even in creative industries like film, where artistic vision drives the product, investors are approaching projects like venture capitalists. They want evidence. They want proof that your project isn’t just a great idea, it’s a viable investment with measurable outcomes and managed risk. They want to see that you’ve done the hard work to ensure their money isn’t simply vanishing into hopeful ambition.

The problem is that when someone says their project is “ready to go,” it’s almost never true. What I usually discover is that the budget is incomplete or unrealistic, built more on optimism than on facts. Often, the pitch lacks a clear plan for marketing, distribution, or audience engagement, as though those details will magically fall into place once funding arrives. Even more troubling, the teams behind these projects are frequently incomplete, often relying on a vague promise that they’ll “fill in the gaps later.” And when I ask for evidence that there’s demand, something that shows this project is actually poised to connect with an audience, I’m met with shrugged shoulders or vague assumptions.

The reality is that if you’re saying your project “just needs funding,” you’re skipping steps. Those missing steps are what investors look for to determine whether your project is viable. Without them, you’re not ready. That’s why I’ve watched so many creatives and founders run headfirst into failure, convinced they were prepared, only to discover that the funding wasn’t the magic bullet they believed it would be.

This is especially true now. In 2025, the investment landscape has become ruthless. Capital is still out there, plenty of it, but no one is parting with their money based on enthusiasm alone. Investors have learned the hard way that ideas, no matter how exciting, mean nothing without execution. They’re no longer paying for potential. They’re paying for proof. They want to see that your budget has been pressure-tested. They want to know that your team isn’t just enthusiastic but experienced, accountable, and capable of delivering results. They expect to see hard evidence that your project will resonate with its intended audience, whether that’s through pre-sales, pilot testing, festival buzz, or early market traction. They want to know what happens when things go wrong because they know that things will go wrong, and they need to see that you’ve prepared for that too.

In short, investors are no longer investing in ideas. They’re investing in execution. And if your project isn’t positioned to demonstrate that, you’re simply not investment-ready.

The most dangerous thing a creator or entrepreneur can do is convince themselves they’re “ready to go” when they’re not. It’s easy to believe that if you could just get someone to believe in your vision, if you could just unlock that funding, everything else would fall into place. But that mindset is a trap. Telling yourself it’s “just about the money” creates a false sense of confidence, one that allows you to skip the difficult, necessary work that separates real projects from hopeful ideas.

I’ve seen filmmakers secure funding only to watch their project collapse in post-production because they underestimated costs. I’ve seen startups burn through capital in record time because they hadn’t accounted for the complexities of marketing and customer acquisition. I’ve seen founders struggle under the weight of their own ambition because they believed funding alone would solve their problems. In every case, the common denominator was that they believed they were ready, and they weren’t.

If you’re struggling to find funding right now, the hard truth is that it’s probably not because investors aren’t spending. It’s because your project isn’t yet ready to justify their investment. The good news is that this can be fixed. The solution isn’t to pitch louder or to double down on convincing people you’re prepared. It’s to be prepared. It’s about building a project so sound, so well-researched, and so strategically positioned that investors can see its potential without you having to insist it’s “ready to go.”

The next time you’re tempted to tell yourself your project “just needs funding,” stop. Ask yourself if you’ve truly done the work to prove your idea isn’t just exciting, it’s viable. Ask yourself if you’ve identified the risks and prepared for them. Ask yourself if you’ve built a team that can execute with precision and clarity. Most importantly, ask yourself if you’d invest in your own project if you didn’t know you personally.

If you can answer those questions with confidence, then you’re probably closer to investment-ready than most. If not, it’s time to pause and put in the work. Because in 2025, the projects that win funding aren’t the ones that sound the most exciting. They’re the ones that prove they can deliver.

No project “just needs funding.” What it needs is a creator or founder who’s willing to do the hard work that earns it.