This is why 90% founders lose investors…

After meeting hundreds of founders each year at BestVantage Investments, I have realised something important. Investors are not chasing the perfect pitch or the loudest valuation. We are looking for something far more human. Something that cannot be captured in a deck or a spreadsheet: the mindset of the person leading the company.

The truth is simple. Money follows clarity. Clarity comes from the founder.

When I sit across from an early-stage entrepreneur, I am quietly evaluating five things that matter more than any market size slide or feature demo.

1. How you respond when things don’t go your way - Every startup hit turbulence. I want to see how you behave in those moments. Do you freeze. Do you defend. Or do you adapt quickly and take ownership. Your ability to handle friction tells me more about your future than your current traction.

2. Your grip on the market you are chasing - Not the textbook TAM. Not a beautifully decorated graph. I want to know your SOM. How much of the market you can realistically capture with precision and discipline. A founder who understands their wedge usually wins the broader market later.

3. Your ability to build a team better than yourself - The strongest founders are not afraid to invite people who challenge them. They hire for their weaknesses and empower their strengths. If you try to do everything alone, I already know where the ceiling of your startup will be. And it is low.

4. Your willingness to evolve - Technology shifts overnight. Customer expectations rewrite themselves every quarter. The founder who believes their first idea is the final idea is the founder who quietly kills their own company. The one who listens, learns and iterates is the one who survives.

5. Your personal credibility in the ecosystem - Not by being loud, but by being consistent. Founders who share honest insights, tell real stories and stand visible in their domain build trust faster. A strong personal brand today is not vanity. It is strategic capital that attracts partners, talent and eventually investment.

At the end of the day, investors are not backing ideas. We are backing the people who can transform those ideas into reality even when everything goes sideways.

If you are a founder building in 2025, focus on your clarity, your adaptability and the people you bring with you. If you get this right, the funding usually follows.

What is the one founder quality you think investors underestimate the most? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.