date: 2021-06-14 11:43:03
From the outside most start-up entrepreneurs seeking investment, might believe that the decision-making process of investors solely depends on the pitch deck, traction and potential of growth. However, there are other factors that might be as important, which is your personality traits.
Most investors have enough knowledge and experience to understand that a wrong personality could potentially ruin a business, oppositely, a good personality could make a business grow.
Below are some traits that investors would like to see in an entrepreneur:
Passionate
Usually, the best entrepreneurs are the ones who are really excited and passionate about the problem that they are trying to solve. If you go to an investor meeting and just start talking in a monotone voice, investors will not be impressed, or best case scenario, they could just get bored so they will lose interest. Passionate investors always try to solve their problems. They always look for methods to create value and afterwards try to drive themselves and their team to solve that problem.
Listen to feedback
Good entrepreneurs listen to the market, investors, users, advisors and team. Various products failed the second it launched simply because they didn’t listen to anyone’s feedback. Also, they have the ability to hear various feedbacks and opinions and then make the best decision accordingly.
Sincerity
Remember investors are usually individuals who attended various meetings with startup founders. They usually have vast experiences with a lot of different personalities. In that sense, no matter how desperate you are, try not to sound like sales person who just wants to get his / her hands-on capital. If investors feel that they are being misled, this could potentially instantly lead to your reputation being ruined. Don’t forget, most angel investors and VCs know each other.
It is always better to admit your mistakes than to try to cover them up, at the end of the day everyone makes mistakes. Always try to be honest and sincere throughout your interactions.
Do not undermine competition
Various entrepreneurs fall in love with their product and their business model, this sometimes leads to the entrepreneurs undermining competitors and their business model. Investors understand that various companies go out of business because of competitors. Accordingly, undermining competition would imply that the co-founder / founder does not understand the dynamics of the market and running a business.
Charisma
Charisma with investors simply implies how likable you are and how easy are you to work with. Some may think that entrepreneurs should be emotionless people that make tough decisions that no one likes, but that is only a small part of running a business. A more important factor is that your team should feel that you want to grow with them, not alone, they need to feel that you are a leader, not a person people would hate to work with.
Humility
The last most important trait is humility. One of the most things investors hate is to attend a meeting with an arrogant or obnoxious founder. Entrepreneurs need to be grounded with humility for several reasons. First, it implies that the entrepreneur “listens to feedback”, second, it also implies that the founder is flexible enough to change things after receiving the feedback, like adding features or maybe even completely changing your business model, if your current model doesn’t work.
In a nutshell, always try to sincerely have the above traits when running a business. Even without needing any investor, it would definitely increase your chances of having a successful business.
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