Investors looking for strong teams
In an article in Scotland on Sunday Jim Duffy, chief executive of business accelerator programme Entrepreneurial Spark (ESpark), told states that start-ups need to “earn the right” to finance, and a good idea alone is not enough to attract investment.
He claims: “Part of the problem that start-ups have is not a lack of funding, but understanding how and where to get it. A start-up will get funding if it’s believable, well thought-out and has a decent team – and we don’t build enough of them in Scotland.
“I recently visited New York and spent a lot of time in Boston, and people are leaving MIT and Harvard in teams, ready to go into accelerators and incubators. It’s part of the culture there, but in Scotland there’s a lack of understanding about how to grow a start-up.”
You can read the full article here
We totally agree with Jim and his advice and we build on that in our investor readiness advice and coaching. A list we refer to frequently is what investors are seeking in an entrepreneur and their team:
- Tenacity
- Flexibility
- Commitment
- Teamwork
- Coachability
- Knowledge
- Passion
Do you have these characteristics? Does your team? Could you develop these in you and your team?
