As an angel investor, what kind of behavior do you hate for a founder to have?

Thomas was asking for $250,000 in exchange for 25% of his company.

Thomas is a smart person and owns several patents and inventions. However, these inventions haven't made any money yet.

"Thomas, what's your business strategy?" I asked.

He avoided the question and kept talking about his invention.

"Thomas, how do you plan to sell this furniture?" I asked again. "Do you have a plan?"

His presentation showed that his idea was great, but he just kept demonstrating how easy it was to assemble his furniture.

"Thomas, your product is great. Now I need to understand how you plan to make money," I said again.

He quickly assembled the wooden panels and showed me how his innovative mechanism worked.

Now, to answer the question, as an angel investor, what behavior do I dislike from a founder?

Thomas avoided my questions.

It's normal to feel nervous, but ignoring my questions and not listening to advice are big red flags about a founder’s character.

Read Also:- What is something you have to share?

Two lessons:

  1. Inventing a product or service is NOT a business. It’s easy to think that inventing a product means you’ve created a startup.
  2. Inventors aren’t always businesspeople. Success happens when you have both an innovative product and the entrepreneurial skills to create a profitable business model around it.

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