My career is focused on B2B so I don't know a lot about communities, but the sentiment is the same. You have an edge if you know a lot about a subject and have good connections with professionals in the field that are willing to talk to you.
But I would say VCs usually prefer a team as its more likely to check all the boxes. I've heard 3 as the "optimum" for team resilience vs founding team social complexity, but that is just a general sentiment. If you have a community get a tech guy, if you are a techy get a product guy, if you are a product guy get a sales guy, etc. Don't try to be an ubermensch, just find a team you can work with.
Community of users applies to b2b as well. It could just be followers on linkedin where you get engagement from your ideal customer profile buyer. VCs looks for signal that you/team will execute. Best signal is undeniable evidence that you are executing and they are just getting on at the right time.
Absolutely, so many people don't understand that a great deck and a tech demo is in 99.9% of the time not enough. You need a strong signal that you are on the right track: user engagement, LOIS, actual sales. The more you can show the better.
If you didn't get to that point don't be surprised if you get the canned response of "This just does not seem like the right opportunity for us".
The first investor in your startup is you. If you are not willing to put your money and time into it don't be surprised other people aren't willing to do it.
Here are two hard earned lessons from my experience fundraising. 1. If an investor isn't interested, cut bait. It's usually clear in the first 15 minutes. No follow-up with argument/data will convince them. Why they aren't may or may not teach you anything. Just move on and continue pitching. 2. Once one investor is interested, getting meetings with others is MUCH easier. If they can't lead, they will intro you to someone they've worked with that can. Getting in front of the A-list investors is hard as they see every deal and can pick and choose. If you can't get a B/C-list investor to term sheet, you or your biz isn't fundable (sorry). If you easily get B/C investors to term sheet you can probably get a brand name firm to steal the deal with better terms. In my experience A-listers aren't discerning on price if they believe in you and/or the biz. This seems to happen to the B/C investors all the time, that's why when they find you, like you/biz, they will drive you to close quickly. 2 months as referenced in OP is an eternity.
But I would say VCs usually prefer a team as its more likely to check all the boxes. I've heard 3 as the "optimum" for team resilience vs founding team social complexity, but that is just a general sentiment. If you have a community get a tech guy, if you are a techy get a product guy, if you are a product guy get a sales guy, etc. Don't try to be an ubermensch, just find a team you can work with.