Assessing the

Founding Team
- Shobhankita Reddy
VCs have a portfolio,
Founders do not
“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be
right once.”
- Drew Houston, Dropbox
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the
successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones
is pure perseverance.”
- Steve Jobs, Apple
Humility is an Important Trait

“Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always

someone better than you”
- Tony Hsieh, Zappos
Importance of
Founding Team

Instagram was all of 13 people when Meta (then

Facebook) acquired it for $1B. This was 2012
Credit - basisset
Different stages of a company
need Different Founder Styles
and Strengths
As always, good old luck
Where are
Founders
coming from?
What do the founders know that very few people in the
world might know?

What can the founders do that very few people in the

world can do?

What is the founders’ right to win?

Assessing the Founding Team
Founder Background, experiences, and strengths
Second-time founders get a premium from VCs

Founding Team complementary skill sets and rapport

How long do they know each other and how?
Have they previously worked together?
Understanding their rapport and comfort with each other.
Is there mutual respect?
What’s the equity split between them?

Skills - Technical, Analytical, GTM/ Sales, Operations, Fundraising etc

Conceptualizing/ Founding -> Building the product -> Selling the product to customers -> Fundraising,
Branding and exit

Personality Traits
Build-first or GTM-first?
Motivations to startup and the passion to solve the problem vs being opportunistic
Would the founders continue to work on the idea if they couldn’t raise VC funding?
The floor is Open for
Questions!