Startup Funding Espresso – Reverse Criteria for Deal Flow

Startup Funding Espresso – Reverse Criteria for Deal Flow

November 6, 2026 by investor

Reverse Criteria for Deal Flow Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso — your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors often have criteria for the startups they are looking for. Some investors also have reverse criteria for deal flow to point out startups they will not fund. Here’s a sample list of reverse criteria: Solo founders Many successful startups have at least two founders. Lack of a technical founder on the team. Most successful startups have a technical lead in place. No track record. Some investors look for a founder who has had an exit previously and has started more than one business. Lack of emotional intelligence. While many investors look for intelligence, the true test is emotional intelligence. This comes out in how well they work with others. Small target market. Some startups are making a go of it in a small market. This may make it difficult to scale later. No clear exit strategy. It’s often the case that the startup has no exit strategy in place. Investors look for a clear path to an exit. Consider creating a list of reverse criteria for your startup investing, as it will save you time in reviewing deal flow. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. Let’s go startup something today. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.


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Disclaimer:
Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.