The 2010s was the decade of the Entrepreneur. The 2020s will be the decade of the Investor.
“Warning signs are for the clever people not for the fools because fools live their lives through living the warned things!”
Mehmet Murat İldan
What you do is who you are
I had a first call with a founder recently that raised a few red flags, some of which may be red lines for you. The founder:
Was late for their own Zoom call. If I log onto someone else’s call one minute before the set time then I’m always surprised that no one else is there (and they’re the ones who set it up so I would assume are keen to meet and chat). On this occasion it was two minutes past the hour before they joined1.
Cracked a couple of crass jokes and swore a bit. I couldn’t give a hoot — it’ll take a fair amount to offend me — but this was our first meeting and if they do this in other first meetings, not to mention with customers or employees, then eventually it’s not going to end well.
Now, over two weeks later, hasn’t followed up. I was complimentary in some feedback on the business, gave some ideas but was also candid about a couple of areas of concern. I’m more than happy to be ignored afterwards (I’m not that precious) but it’s still a signal when there’s no signal.
They could be the most talented, gritty, driven entrepreneur ever but for me they didn’t have much in the way of self-awareness.
However, as my Star Founder 2x2 below shows, those with low self-awareness can sometimes be moved into Star Founder territory:
Do you think I should be the one to follow up? Is it too late? Would any of the above be a red flag or a red line for you? If not, what would?
In other news
🎤 On Monday 19th February I’ll be going to a live podcast event with Chris Anderson all about ‘Infectious Generosity’. The interview will be conducted by the excellent Danielle Newnham — there are many terrific episodes, but I was on her podcast — here — in 2023. Details and signup for the event here.
🍽️ The next meal with 9others is on Wednesday 28th February — details and signup here.
🧑🎓 If your company hires graduates would you consider providing a ‘Corporate Sponsorship’ to a student? Portfolio company Black Bullion has a platform to handle this and is the largest student portal for scholarships in the UK. More details here — hit reply if you want me to connect you to Vivi.
💰 If you’re a fund manager, have you ever ‘warehoused’ deals? I’d love to have a 30 minute call to quiz you on this if so. Please reply and let me know.
Q&A
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Education of a Startup Investor to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.