The Negative Checklist for Startup Investing Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso — your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Most investors have a checklist for what they look for in a startup investment. The counter to this is the negative list for startup investing. This list shows what the investor does not invest in. Here are some examples: Investments that will close shortly, leaving the investor no time for research or diligence. An investment that has all positives and no negatives. An investment that is risk-free or ‘can’t fail.’ An investment that looks good only because everyone you know is in it. Any investment that has a great story but no traction, momentum or validation of the product or market. An investment with a sky-high valuation and few results so far. Any investment that relies solely on other people’s money with no skin in the game from the founder. An investment that the founder can’t tell you what it is because it is confidential. The negative checklist helps the investor screen out deals that won’t be fundable. Consider your negative checklist for startup investing. 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.

Copyright (c) 2026, Hall Martin and investorconnect.org. All rights reserved.

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.