3 Ways to Lead an Invest-worthy Startup
January 31st 2019, marked the end of my 3-month internship at Sovereign’s Capital, a US-based Venture Capital firm. Never did I imagine myself to be in the Venture Capital world. As a science stream High schooler and a Sociology major college student; I had zero knowledge of the VC world. But I was determined to find the answer to, “What are the criterias VC look for in an invest-worthy startup? Apparently, investors (most times) invest on founders more than their ideas. If you are like me — eager to build your own enterprise — these are leadership skills and qualities investors look for, before investing in a startup.
- A leader who invests in a strong team
During my internship, I got to interview CEOs, with the experience of leading hundreds of employees and running a multimillion dollar company to learn about what leadership qualities they embody. Simply put, strong leaders surround themselves with other strong leaders. These CEOs are not afraid to admit that they can’t do it alone, and hire people who are better than themselves. They are the kind of people who praises others and grow others’ talents. The fear of “doing things differently” often will hinder the growth of an organization. It is competition that creates innovation. Yes, CEOs should bring in amazing people on board, moreover, the CEOs need to lead the team with clarity, socializing a good company culture of purpose and innovation.
2. A leader who hungers to grow
“What gets you there won’t keep you there” — Simon Sinek
When you have arrived at a series-B fundraiser, the networking skills and passion that got your startup funded in seed round, won’t be enough to go where your company is headed. When you’re growing 5 employees to 50 employees, your vision has to be combined with your ability to execute.
At one SheVC (a community of female VCs associate) dinner I attended, Shuyin Tang, a Patamar Capital Partner shared about the importance of creating a value proposition for yourself and your startup.The startup ecosystem moves with a lightning speed, we need to review our value proposition periodically; asking ourselves, “What do I bring to the table?” No matter if you are a partner or an intern at a firm, you can never go wrong with being aggressive to get feedbacks.
Like in the VC world where reading the global investment trend is necessary to make right investment, we need to continually upgrade our skills and learn new things to be able to add value to others.
Tips: Be teachable. Find mentors. Find peers who can keep you accountable in your growth. Have this spirit of excellence in all you do — that will surely turn heads and capture hearts.
3. A leader who is able to discern and be discipline on priorities
Principle: Don’t keep fueling a broken boat
When do you know when to let go of your “baby”? It has been way past your targeted breakeven deadline and your company is stagnant, should you hold on to your business? A good leader knows when to stop fueling a broken boat or if it is a boat still worthy of being saved. In a startup, there are galizzion things tugging your attention, you have to be able to keep in mind the ‘distraction metrics’ and choose if an action will lead you closer to the greater goal (if you have a goal chart at all).
In our everyday life, it might look like mapping out our time commitments wisely, being diligent in saying “no” to invitations outside our priorities, and investing most in what we aspire to be.
Lessons are often caught, not taught. It was in engaging the founders when I understood what qualities made up a good leader. One, it was the impact they make to their employees —both professionally and personally. Second, they create a people-centric company culture — encouraging openness to learning, creativity, and work-life balance. Third, their combination of vision and ability to execute will make their startups invested!
So, there you go! Now, go out there, world changers!
X,
Tam