The other day one of my Singularity University Labs’ team members asked me: “What are the top 5 qualities that you’d have to see to personally invest in a startup?”

Excellent question!

1. Believe in the team — I need to believe that you actually can do what you have to do and are coachable along the way.
2. The solution must make sense — Understanding that whatever you have today might (and most likely will) change; you and your the team need to demonstrate that you can logically follow the problem.
3. Solid understanding of financial fundamentals — You need to have a firm grip on concepts such as customer acquisition cost and total cost (and thus financing need) to build something.
4. Relentlessly empirical — You demonstrably show a deep understanding and application of the difference between conjectures versus actuals.
5. Perseverance — Your grit and the ability to push through obstacles is obvious and rooted in past, observable, behavior.

P.S.: For all of you who are currently fundraising — I am not investing my personal money at the moment. ;)

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