How can I become the kind of business owner that investors want to invest in?

Ask Women and Work

Question: I’m a business owner. A friend, who is also a founder, told me that when investors are making funding decisions, they invest in the founder as much as the business. What qualities are they looking for in a founder?

We asked Nouhaila Chelkhaoui, founder and CEO of Scale Without Borders, to tackle this one:

If you are a founder with an early-stage business, investors are looking for what I call founder market fit. Is the founder the right person for this market and connected to this problem they are trying to solve? Are they deeply entrenched and passionate about what they are doing? Founders are going to go through all sorts of challenges – recessions, pandemics, market shifts – and their ability to stay connected to that vision is going to help the business not only survive but thrive when times get tough. Passion is probably the biggest North Star.

Attitude and personality are very important, because a lot of investors look at this as like a marriage, especially investors who are going be hands-on with you. They want to have a healthy and hopefully enjoyable relationship with you. Also, your ability to attract talent can be assessed based on your attitude and personality. Will people want to work for you?

I do want to note, however, that I think investors are becoming more cognizant of the fact that founders come from all walks of life and in different personalities. For example, they are learning that neurodiverse founders should not be overlooked. I work with newcomers, and we push the narrative that newcomers don’t always communicate in the same way as people who’ve been here for a while, but investors shouldn’t always seek out the familiar.

Red flags for investors would be lying, cheating, having something in your past that you have not disclosed. You need to be your authentic self. Be respectful, self-aware and communicate as much as you can.

It’s also important to have a healthy level of detachment. Understand that your success is not tied to that investor and you aren’t reliant on them. I think nowadays people position investment as the ultimate success, but it’s not. You will become the most attractive founder to investors by going out there and building your business as much as you can, then stepping back to connect with more investors and see if they want to come on the ride with you.

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