Traits of a Venture-Investable Founder making sense, one Saturday at a time

STARTUPS, ON SATURDAY

Any country, province or city that wants entrepreneurship, more innovation and more venture capital, need self-aware talent too. People who either carry these traits or set out to build the ones they lack will be the ones building successful startups

Venture Capitalists receive hundreds of pitch decks in a year and may entertain scores of pitches in every quarter. Many of them will claim to change the world and become the next big thing.  Most of them will be building into what is a large market, worth chasing. However, on most occasions, for them, it boils down to one question: “Is this the right person / team to solve this problem?” “And why?” 

Yes. It is that simple question about a person that finally matters. Investors carry a rough checklist for it. The good part, for any aspirant entrepreneur, no one is born with these traits. They can be nurtured. They need to be nurtured. Here are the six factors and one X-factor that decide who walks away with a term sheet from a leading VC. 

First, Storytelling, the ability to spin the yarn, someone who can make the numbers stack up to the narrative. Not merely reciting the numbers, doing the math accurately but turning the numbers into an aspirational story. He or she needs to wrap those numbers into an moving tale that commands the audience attention. The story is not the decoration, it is the core. Second, the Founder-Market fit. VC’s lean towards people who they believe can solve the problem better than anyone else. Is there a personal story to the passion, is there a scar tissue? 

Third, Attractiveness. A leading VC once told me that most of the Founders in her portfolio are attractive people. “Attractiveness” is not the one for optics and mirrors (though that is allowed) but the one for gravity and magnetism i.e. the ability to attract people. That includes customers, employees, and investors. A founder who attracts talent, trust and capital compounds every other advantage. Fourth, Integrity and Accountability. Things go wrong, and by definition, entrepreneurship is an exercise in risk-taking. Investors back people who say plainly what went wrong, what they learned, and what they are doing differently.  

Fifth, Leadership. No one can solve a large problem alone. It is important for an investable Founder to attract talent better than themselves, delegate and evolve into an institution. That is only way something that starts, scales. Sixth, Coachability. This is a tricky one. Whilst you need conviction, you also need the ability to discern between confidence and blind spots. The ability to be self-aware, acknowledge gaps and change course when data or boardrooms nudge in another direction. 

Seventh, is the rarest and the most important, the X-factor, Timing. The truly investable founder senses that an idea’s moment has arrived, and just in time, before everyone else does. Too early, and the market is not ready. Too late and it is over-crowded. This trait separates a good Founder from a generational one. 

One observation from my own limited experience – Not all Founders will have all these traits when they start. However, those that sustain the journey learn to nurture them along the way. 

Why this matters: Any country, province or city that wants entrepreneurship (most do), more innovation and more venture capital, need self-aware talent too. People who either carry these traits or set out to build the ones they lack will be the ones building successful startups.

- Ravi Ravulaparthi is the CEO& Cofounder of Qapita