What practice best assesses founders for long-term investment?

🚀Michal Rokosz

Partner

Early achievements

Michal Rokosz says he looks for early entrepreneurial achievements—a pattern at his fund, like founders who sold things or built games as kids—calling that his type of founder.

David Weisburd

Founder · Weisburd Capital

Talent magnetism

David Weisburd endorses the Ashton Kutcher rule: invest if you feel compelled to quit your work to join the founder, because it shows they're a talent magnet drawing people to their vision.

The answer starts at 6:02.

Emily Bennett

Investment Partner · Andreessen Horowitz

Co-founder dynamics

Emily Bennett says she watches co-founder dynamics: how they engage, give space, divide roles, and work together. She says it isn’t a dealbreaker, but what matters is time spent building together.

Kenan Saleh

Investment Partner · Andreessen Horowitz

Full commitment

Kenan Saleh says the most important thing is full commitment: a founder being fully bought into starting a company and willing to leave their job to do it full time; he says other factors are flexible.

Bill Ackman

Founder and Chief Executive Officer · Pershing Square Capital Management

Weight the person

Bill Ackman says he weights the person more than the idea, because the original idea often isn’t the one that succeeds and the founder has to manage challenges and figure out a business model over time.

GR

Gili Raanan

Cyberstarter · Cyberstarts

One conversation

Gili Raanan says it's typically one conversation: in most cases he knows he's an investor after about 10 minutes, though it takes him a few years to figure out why.

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Morgan Flager

Managing Partner · Silverton Partners

Founder’s conviction

Morgan Flager says he needs to be very convinced of a founder's conviction—that they're in it for the long haul, want to win, won't walk away, and attach their personal reputation—because grit and resolve matter.

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Miles Grimshaw

Partner · Thrive Capital

Recruiting gut check

Miles Grimshaw says the gut question he always asks himself is, “Can I imagine recruiting for this?”

The answer starts at 1:23:42.

Brian Singerman

Partner · Founders Fund

Personal connection

Brian Singerman says he uses no checklist or rubric, instead looking for founders who "spike with me"—people he personally connects with—because the attribute lists he tried never worked or proved accurate.

Jason Gray

Founder & Managing Partner · Pioneer Fund

Unique insight

Jason Gray says his answer is unique insight—what a founder sees that the rest of the market may not—and adds rate of progress as an additional factor.