Before You Choose DocSend, Ask These Questions

If you’re preparing to raise capital, there’s a good chance someone has recommended DocSend. It’s a widely used tool for sharing pitch decks securely. You can send your deck, control access, and see who opened it.

But before you choose DocSend as your fundraising tool, ask yourself:

Is DocSend really helping me raise money, or just helping me send files?

In this article, we’ll walk through the essential questions every founder should ask before choosing DocSend and why tools like Pitchwise might be better suited for modern fundraising.

1. Is DocSend built for fundraising—or for file sharing?

DocSend is often described as the industry standard for sharing pitch decks. It’s simple, secure, and makes your deck look polished. You can upload your deck, generate a DocSend link, and track views. That’s the core pitch of Docsend.

But DocSend is fundamentally a file-sharing platform. It wasn’t designed to manage investor engagement, drive follow-up, or convert views into capital. For many founders, that’s the difference between raising a round and falling short.

2. What exactly does DocSend track—and what does it miss?

DocSend tracks slide-by-slide analytics. You can see how long an investor spent on each page of your deck and whether they forwarded the link with DocSend. For many founders, this is enough to know if someone skimmed or really read through the pitch.

But here’s what DocSend doesn’t tell you:

• How many times an investor revisited your deck over time
• If that investor viewed multiple versions of your deck
• What actions they took after reading (no messaging or call booking)
• How your deck’s performance compares to others in your stage or sector

Pitchwise takes engagement further. You don’t just see views like with DocSend—you see traction. That’s a big leap from what DocSend can currently offer.

3. Does DocSend help you capture leads from deck views?

In short: No.

Once someone opens your DocSend link, that’s where the tracking ends. You might get an email or name if they fill in your access form, but there’s no built-in lead management.

That means if 10 investors open your DocSend deck, you still need to manually copy their names, figure out who’s most engaged, and follow up one by one without context.

With Pitchwise, every view is tracked as a lead. You can see investor activity over time, flag warm leads, and track who’s returning to your materials. DocSend gives you data. Pitchwise gives you a pipeline.

‍4. Can DocSend help you find investors?

DocSend doesn’t help you discover or connect with investors. It assumes you already know who to pitch. DocSend doesn’t have an investor database, no matchmaking, and no support with targeting.

In contrast, Pitchwise offers curated investor lists by stage, sector, and region. It was designed to help early-stage founders—especially in emerging markets—connect with the right capital.

If you’re raising a round without a deep VC network, DocSend won’t fill that gap. Pitchwise was built to.

5. Are founders getting everything they need from DocSend?

Thousands of founders use DocSend every day. But most combine it with spreadsheets, CRMs, Notion pages, and manual outreach because DocSend doesn’t cover the rest of the journey.

• No contract templates
• No term sheet guides
• No investor engagement tips
• No post-send follow-up help

That’s not a knock on DocSend, it’s just not what it was built for. But if you’re looking for an all-in-one fundraising companion, DocSend alone may fall short.

6. How does DocSend support follow-up?

DocSend gives you visibility into whether someone opened your deck and how long they spent. That’s helpful but it puts the full weight of interpretation and action back on you.

What happens after they click? With DocSend, you won’t know unless they reply.

Pitchwise helps you time your follow-up based on real-time activity. If someone viewed your deck again after a week—or dropped off at Slide 7—you’ll know. That means smarter outreach and fewer missed opportunities.

7. What are founders saying in DocSend reviews?

Many DocSend reviews highlight how clean, simple, and reliable the platform is. It’s trusted across the startup world for a reason.

But some common founder feedback includes:

• “DocSend is great for sharing, but I still need other tools to manage the process.”
• “DocSend has helpful insights but is limited on the fundraising side.”
• “I wish I had more visibility into what investors actually thought on DocSend.”

If you’ve ever felt this way using DocSend, you’re not alone, and you have options.

8. Is DocSend the right tool for early-stage fundraising?

If you’re running a fast-moving seed round or reaching out cold, you need more than a link. DocSend is fine when things are warm. But early-stage founders often don’t have that luxury.

Pitchwise was built for this exact stage: startup teams raising capital, testing investor interest, and needing more than “someone opened the deck”.

Final Thoughts: DocSend is Good—But Is It Enough?

We’re not here to bash DocSend. It’s a great product. It’s professional, polished, and widely respected. For many founders, it’s their first deck-sharing experience.

But if you’re actively fundraising—and especially if you don’t have an investor pipeline yet—DocSend alone won’t get you there.

DocSend sends your pitch. Pitchwise helps you close the round.

So before you choose DocSend, ask:

• Am I fundraising or just sending?
• Do I want views—or leads?
• Do I need a tracker—or a real fundraising tool?

Compare the tools and get started with Pitchwise at www.pitchwise.se

‍