Are you Going to Make a Great Fit with Your Potential Investor?
Asher Leids is a prominent super angel based in Santa Monica and specialized in early-stage startups. Previous to investing individually he practiced venture capital, securities, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate law. In short, he is an expert in what he is doing and knows startup investment inside out.
A vital task for entrepreneurs who are in the process of finding an investor is to figure out if you are going to be a good fit for each other. You don’t want to take the money from just anybody, you want to take it from someone who is a great match for you. But how do you know if you are going to be a good fit for each other?
Mr. Leids suggest looking at the investor as if it’s someone you want to marry, like choosing a life partner. You don’t want to end up in a nasty divorce. For example, if you go for lunch with your investor and during lunch, the investor yells at the waiter or waitress, then you can figure out that this person will act the same way to you at some point. And will you be okay with that?
You need to be aware of who you are choosing, but also make an effort yourself. If you are not asking the investor the questions that make him or her comfortable with the relationship, then it’s not going to lead anywhere. Imagine if you are on a first date and you didn’t ask your date any questions about what they were like, what their habits were or other personal questions, and just asked how much money they were bringing in to the relationship. Then that person will enter the relationship with a very different perspective.
Besides showing interest, according to Mr. Leids one of the other main things you need to think about when meeting your potential investor is to show that you are passionate about what you are doing. Tell the investor how strongly you feel for your product or service, don’t start the subject about needing investment.
In the end, it’s not only about the expectations that you have from the investor. It’s also about the expectations that the investor has about you what you should want from them. If it’s just the money then you are going to have a problem right at the beginning. To learn more about the relationship between entrepreneurs and investors, listen to Asher Leids episode of Expert Dojo’s podcast; “the Art of Startup War” here:
For more startup podcast episodes, please visit: https://www.expertdojo.com/investor-podcast/