What do investors seek in AI startups before funding?

Yuri Sagalov

Managing Director · General Catalyst

AI‑Native Team

Yuri Sagalov says investors should look for AI-native teams, because founders who are truly AI native use AI noticeably differently, managing and orchestrating many agents to squeeze out performance.

The answer starts at 24:13.

Garry Tan

Founder · Garry'S List

Explainability

Garry Tan says founders must understand what's happening in their product in depth, because the first versions of reasoning models are not good at debugging.

Yash Patel

Founder & Managing Partner · Capra Ventures

Asymmetric Insight

Yash Patel says he looks for a unique asymmetric information edge or insight a founder has, calling it absolutely critical and the thing he looks for most; he says it usually comes from customer conversations.

Itamar Novick

Founder & General Partner · Recursive Ventures

TAM, Moat, Team

Itamar Novick says founders need a precise sense of whether their business is VC-scale, asking whether it has the TAM, the moat and the team to become the one winner-takes-all category winner.

The answer starts at 36:16.

Azeem Azhar

Founder · Exponential View

Real Revenue

Azeem Azhar says investors look for real revenue because real sales from real customers can help a business overcome difficulties.

The answer starts at 58:50.

David Frankel

Managing Partner · Founder Collective

Magician, CTO, Salesperson CEO

David Frankel says he looks for a magician, a CTO, and a salesperson CEO, and rarely invests unless he believes in the co-founders as a team.

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Navin Chaddha

Managing Partner · Mayfield Fund

Strong Founding Team

Navin Chaddha says he looks for a strong founding team, leaning toward people over the idea because most companies pivot from their first idea.