Thursday, January 30, 2014

As an investor, what are the most important items that a startup must have for you to invest?

http://lab15.ivolution.pl/2014/01/30/as-an-investor-what-are-the-most-important-items-that-a-startup-must-have-for-you-to-invest/

As an investor, what are the most important items that a startup must have for you to invest?


  1. Large and growing market
  2. Real domain expertise
  3. Provable product need
  4. Scalable business model
  5. Competitive advantage
  6. Platform/partnership/bizdev/API strategy
  7. External validation (ideally traction and/or passionate customers)
  8. Viable business structure and cap table
  9. Reasonable valuation
  10. Proven team (tech/product/design/marketing/sales/domain/etc.)
But most important of all, it must have an entrepreneur on whom I’m willing to bet. And the attributes I look for in that entrepreneur are:
  • Integrity
  • Passion
  • Startup experience
  • Personal domain expertise
  • Operating skills
  • Leadership ability
  • Commitment to the venture
  • Long-term, extensive vision
  • Realism and pragmatism
  • Flexibility
  • Even temperament
  • Coachability
  • Alignment on vision