Finding The Right Investors & Building Relationships

Speaks to the importance of kind of finding a, you know, founder and investor fit. So, Sue, actually, do you have any tips for that maybe, or maybe examples of, you know, founders that have, that, you know, on the other side that you've seen that have done that well?

Yeah, the advice I often give founders is you should kind of look at early investors, angels, advisors, and employees the same way. Which is who is kind of your ideal hire? Who's your ideal teammate? And then bring them in and in the relationship that makes the most sense. So say you're starting a fitness app, then the best strategic person for you to have on your team might be the CEO of Peloton or an investor in Peloton or someone who helped build Lululemon. And if you can bring them in as an early employee, as a CMO, as a co-founder, great. If you can't do that, maybe you can bring them along as an advisor, or maybe you can bring them along as an angel, depending on what they're looking for in their life or what you're looking for in terms of your filling out your team. So I think that's a really great approach. And then the other thing is just to be putting yourself out there. I think a lot of people I know have met co-founders, advisors, angels at some of these conferences just from hearing them speak and understanding, okay, actually you have some theses that are really unique. They kind of push me, but also align with my view of the world. So just meeting those people, having those conversations is, is really important. And then of course, it's all about team and culture fit. So are you able to have productive conversations? You're in a journey for maybe the next 10 years. So it's really important to be able to communicate with all of the people around you, even if they're an advisor or an angel and you think they're just giving you money. It's more than money. It's a relationship for a really long time.