Making People Think: Questions To Consider

Emmet McGonagle

June 17, 2022

Grant Lawrence, president of Valhalla Angels Kelowna and co-president of Valhalla Angels Vancouver, has revealed which questions investors should ask founders in a bid to gain further insights into their company.

 

Read Grant’s insights below:

 

How do you gather the proof of what you are looking for in a founder or the team?  What questions do you ask? And during this lock down how do you interact with the founder(s)?  How do you get past the ‘best-behaviour-on-a-date’ façade (if, it is, in fact, a façade).

A few questions to consider, each one can lead to long conversations.

  1. What are you working on?
  2. Why this, why are you doing this?   
  3. What does success look like?
  4. Why would this work now?
  5. What is your unfair advantage?
  6. How do you plan to give it back, a return to the investors?
  7. How do you know [insert name here], and who introduced us?

Of course, digging into each of the answers with further questions around the product, the founder and team members etc can give further insights. 


In upcoming installment of the series, Grant intends to discuss the following questions:

  • What is the evidence you are specifically looking for from these questions?
  • How closely does this fit with your investment thesis?
  • Who is doing this evidence gathering?
  • How are they validating this evidence?

Do you have a question about angel investing? Get in touch with Valhalla Private Capital via our contact page.

Canadian Unemployment Grows in ‘Labour-Constrained Economy’

By Emmet McGonagle • December 1, 2023
Canada’s unemployment rate has trended higher once again this month, according to the latest iteration of Statistics Canada’s November labour force survey.

Workers Call for Pay Transparency

By Emmet McGonagle • November 29, 2023
More than half of workers believe that disclosing worker compensation details on job postings will lead to better equality in pay, according to the latest iteration of LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index . The index - which is based on a survey of 3,302 members in Canada between June and September 2023 - found that 52% of people asked felt that people sharing their pay information (including salary and bonus) would improve workplace equality, compared to 48% in 2022. This number varies between different generations, with younger Canadians more likely to express support for pay transparency (73%), followed by 69% of Millennials, 46% of Gen X and 44% of Baby Boomers. However, 37% of those surveyed remarked that they felt anxious about sharing their pay information - a 2% rise from the year prior. Likewise, just under half (49%) said they felt well compensated for the work they do while 74% expressed that the pay gap between CEOs and employees had become too wide. The people of LinkedIn have come out in their dozens to give their two cents on the topic, with Adrienne Tom , executive resume writer for executives, saying: “ I'm all for salary transparency, so long as the number is clear and legit. Some postings list salary ranges so wide that the actual salary number isn't entirely clear, leaving job seekers confused.” “If you have a manager who is not advocating for the pay gap, you are working for the wrong manager,” remarked career strategist Sweta Regmi , while noting that women in Ontario earn an average of $0.87 for every dollar earned by men. On the topic, she added: “Salary ranges with job postings can help close the gender pay gap while allowing companies to find qualified candidates more quickly.” Do you have a question about angel investing? Get in touch with Valhalla Private Capital via our contact page .