> “When I plan to be raising in six months, I’m already out there, proactively connecting with VCs, having coffees, making as many of them aware of my company as possible,” says Ryan. “The conversation is safer when I’m not raising money.”

Yeah, because so many of us can pick up the phone and have VC's go have coffee with us for no reason at all. <rolls eyes>

Starting off an article on fundraising with "Have a lot of rich friends" doesn't actually add credibility to the rest of the article.