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Jain: Early founders should bypass VCs to partner with corporate buyers

Ankur Jain · Billionaire Founder: No One Tells You This About Starting A Company | Ankur Jain · May 13, 2026 · at 8:34

Bilt Rewards CEO Ankur Jain shares his strategy of bypassing venture capital to secure strategic commercial partners.

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“In the early days, why would you go to a middleman, like a venture firm, whose value add is to connect you to somebody else, who by the way, then still doesn't have any interest in actually helping you, right? Versus going directly to these companies that you want to sell to anyways. And having them partner with you.”

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