Be excited
It oozes out of you. People can see it. They can feel it. Most importantly, it infects them as well.
I was contacted by an investor last week. She was looking to get connected with early-stage founders in the AI space. As I do with everyone new I get connected with, I started digging deeper.
During our conversation, she shared her investment criteria with me. Quite a lot of numbers. Team experience. Market size. Business model.
All the usual suspects you'd expect from someone who's written dozens of checks.
Then she paused. "You want to know what's really at the top of my list?"
Needless to say, this is exactly what I was looking for. The boilerplate stuff is table stakes. But this? This is gold. This is what will help me make the best connections for her.
"Founder excitement about the problem they're solving. Everything else I can help fix. But if they're not genuinely fired up about what they're building? That's unfixable."
That was a great starting point for me to start my search. But, it also got me thinking. There have been founders whose business may have been relevant to this investor. But, based on my conversations with them, the spark was somehow missing. They've lost that spark somewhere along the way.
They're going through the motions. Pitching because they have to. Building because that's what founders do.
But that initial fire? That thing that got them started in the first place? It's barely flickering.
Here's the thing about excitement. You can't fake it. Not really. People can sense authenticity from a mile away. Especially investors who've seen hundreds of pitches.
Ask any investor about their best investments.
They'll tell you about founders who couldn't stop talking about their problem space. Not their product. Not their business model. But the problem itself.
Founders who would light up when discussing the customer pain they are solving. Who you can sense a genuine passion from when it comes to discussing how broken the current solutions are.
That excitement is contagious. It makes people want to be part of what you're building.
It attracts talent. It opens doors. It turns meetings into partnerships.
But most importantly? It sustains you through the inevitable tough times ahead.
Here's to those who still get goosebumps talking about their problem. Who can't sleep because their minds are racing with solutions.
Stay fired up!
A detailed version of this post is also published on my Substack publication. If you liked this post, consider subscribing to get more such posts in your inbox.