Ken McArthur

About Ken McArthur

Ken McArthur is the founder of ConnectLab.live, an AI relationship-intelligence and warm-intro platform that helps founders who are raising find the funds that fit and the people who can introduce them, and helps fund managers connect with the founders they back. He was recently accepted into Harvard Business School Foundry. He also writes Raise Smarter, a daily newsletter on what's really moving in early-stage fundraising. Ken challenges us to realize we ALL have an impact, whether we want to or not, on thousands of people we touch in our day-to-day lives, and he shows that simple things make a HUGE difference. ConnectLab.live grew out of that belief. Connection is the currency of the 21st Century, and the right introduction can change a company's future. Long before ConnectLab, Ken was the popular host of live events that brought together top-level marketers, entrepreneurs, business owners, corporations and non-profit organizations to build multi-million dollar joint venture relationships. He has managed product launches ranked in the top 400 sites on the Internet and is regularly asked to speak at leading marketing events. He created AffiliateShowcase.com, a pioneering affiliate program search engine and directory. He also founded the MBS Internet Research Center, which conducted the world's largest survey ever attempted on creating and launching successful information products. Ken was the official mentor for Sterling Valentine as he took his launch from zero to over $100,000 in less than 8 days, a proof of concept documented in Info Product Blueprint. Today he puts that same skill for connecting people and launching ideas to work for founders and the investors who back them.

The Strategic Check

Corporate investors are making fewer, bigger bets. What Aranca’s and GCV’s Q3 2026 reports mean for founders seeking a strategic check, and for GPs.

The Two-Year Cliff

The Two-Year Cliff: What Record Startup Shutdowns Reveal About the Gap Between Rounds

The Stale-Mark Reckoning

The Stale-Mark Reckoning: What Miro, Airtable and 59% Secondary Discounts Mean for Founders and GPs

The One-Person Fund

The median US VC fund is $10M while the average is $165.4M. What the rise of solo GPs means for emerging managers and founders seeking a first check.

The Seed Price Split

Median seed prices cooled in 2026 while top-tier valuations soared. What the split means for founders and GPs, and why your lead shapes price and close.

Your Investor CRM Is Not Your Fundraising Strategy

A spreadsheet can tell you who you contacted. A CRM can tell you when you last spoke. A data room can tell you whether someone opened your deck. All useful. None of them can answer the questions that determine whether your Seed or Series A raise works: That is fundraising […]

The Most Dangerous Place for a Founder: “We’re Still Raising

Imagine you are a founder with six months of runway. You have built the product. You have early traction. You know additional capital could change the future of your company. You expect fundraising to take six weeks. Then six weeks become three months. Three months become six. Your product roadmap […]