#46 Angelinvesting.it - From idea to Series A - Weekly Newsletter
Excellent teams chimera
There's a widespread belief that in the pre-seed stage, the only thing that matters is the team. Invest in the best teams and that's all you need.
Even if you're not convinced by this idea, two scenarios are possible: the team will prove you wrong, or the team will evolve the solution (pivot) until it finds a receptive and rich market to target (the ever-elusive product-market fit).
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I find it very hard to conform to this line of thought. I find it difficult to separate the team, the idea, and traction as separate pieces. To me, these elements are tightly interlocked.
In my opinion, exceptional teams can communicate a vision with extreme clarity. Exceptional teams also know how to make a lot happen with little.
In general, in business, I've learned to be wary of adjectives. What you read in the word 'exceptional' is not what I read, or what another person might.
As aspirational as it sounds to say "in the pre-seed stage, the only thing that matters is the team," once you get past the headline, you realize that the idea and traction are necessary elements in evaluating the team itself.
2 Resources to pro
1. My checklist when evaluating a team:
Do they have a history that aligns with the project they're launching?
Do they have insights into the sector?
Do they have a track record of successes, personal and professional, big or small?
Are they working on a problem worth solving?
Are they demonstrating depth of thought through their pitch?
Do they have a clear next 2-3 moves on the VC chessboard?
Are they precise, punctual, and thoughtful in various iterations?
Did they give me the impression they have the fire inside to make it?
Do they have skin in the game?
Is it a team effort or one against the world?
Do the founders have coherent values and a similar definition of success?
Take these lists with a grain of salt. I don't always manage to answer all these questions, and often, my answers are wrong.
2. The Turkey
Nassim Taleb told this mental experiment that has stayed etched in my mind.
Imagine being able to ask a turkey what opinion it has of the farmer. The turkey would say: "Very good, he feeds me regularly, I'm getting quite plump."
Then Thanksgiving comes, and that turkey ends up killed and on the table of an average American.
Nassim argues that we often think like the turkey, letting the data of the past become by default our expectation of the future. Nothing wrong with that when it works, but then Thanksgiving comes.
The same goes for teams. Past results, personal achievements, should be taken as weak directional signals and not as elements on which to build an expectation of results."
1 Reason to be happy
Happy thanksgiving Americans ❤️ from 🇪🇺
Have a great weekend,
Simone
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