How to find the right investor for your company

Key takeaways from my conversation with Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Sarah Kunst, and Shad Azimi at today's Latin American Fashion Summit panel.

1. Good investors are the ones who can add value beyond a check.
2. Having a path to profitability is more important than being profitable. Investors look for entrepreneurs with a plan that will yield returns. 
3. Best investors have a very clear focus. They know where they invest and where they don’t. That’s ultimately a good thing for the entrepreneur. Among other things, focus creates ecosystems that entrepreneurs can leverage to their benefit.  
4. It’s never too early to start understanding which investors are a fit for you. 
5. You should not raise until you know what you are going to do with the money.
6. Raising capital can take longer than expected so you need to start building relationships with potential investors (applies too to people you want to hire in the future, companies you want to partner with, etc)
7. It’s an amazing time to be an entrepreneur. It had never been easier to build something and to get it to customers.
8. You need to think about what your building blocks are before you raise capital and what you need to do to get to those milestones. 
9. Investor meetings are sounding boards. Entrepreneurs should see those meetings as an opportunity to get valuable feedback and advice. 
10. Social Investing is no longer considered charity. Every business needs to be thinking about social impact. It is the right thing to do for society and financially smart. 
11. Consumers are going to put their money where their core values are. They will not buy anything from companies that don’t align with those values. 
12. Different cohorts of generations have been spending time together in this pandemic and younger members of the family are influencing older ones into making more socially responsible decisions. 
13. You can’t expect and demand that every company you invest in is 100% sustainable but 100% of the companies need to be thinking about how to get there. 
14. When meeting investors, simply be prepared for the meeting. Explain why your business can scale, how it can become profitable, why it needs to exist. Show how you are creating community and recurring sales. 
15. Don’t use superlatives that can’t be backed.
16. Don’t speak in anecdotes, speak in data. 
17. Investor/entrepreneur relationships are usually long term commitments. Entrepreneurs should do their due diligence on investors just as investors do theirs on companies. 
18. Capital is cheaper than most entrepreneurs think. Great entrepreneurs will find the best investor for them as long as they do their research and prepare well. 
19. Talking to other entrepreneurs is the best way to know your investor. Entrepreneurs are the best advisors for entrepreneurs. 
20. Partner with people that have complementary skill sets to yours.  
21. Investors like teams where it is really clear what each member does. 
22. Being coachable is more important than being good at many things.
23. Being able to attract great people to their teams is a great founder strength that investors value. 
24. Founders should be willing to hire people who are smarter than them. 
25. Founders that are open to seeing their weaknesses and willing to improve them have greater chances of success. 
26. Build your network where you want to grow. Start now. 
27. Prioritize the right capital partner over a high valuation. 
28. Don’t be afraid to pivot and adapt. 
29. Be always prepared to answer questions that investors would ask, even if you are not currently raising capital. 
30. Be brave, great companies have been born in difficult times like the one we are living now.