As a #startup #advisor and sometimes making #startupinvestments with my own money, I look at a multitude of signals. An advisor role is slightly different than what investors are looking for, but it usually revolves around the product, the market, and the team (and the infamous "X factor"... but that's not me). Here's what I pay attention to: ▪the market isn't a big concern since I know #martech, #adtech and #privacytech pretty well - I can spot BS claims pretty easily! ▪ is there even a proof of concept? Ideas are free - I have plenty of them myself! I can share some initial feedback, but I won't play a serious advisory role (much less invest) if there is nothing concrete (Addendum: this also implies "looking under the hood" at the underlying technology, thanks to my years on the software engineering, sysadmin, DBA side of things); ▪the background and personality of the founder plays a huge role; ▪the number of employees does not matter as much as their commitment and their own track record; ▪all the financial stuff, how much money the #entrepreneur is risking him/herself, early funding (typically "friend & family"), burn rate, and revenue model - I don't care about bold valuations and revenue projections in 5 years.... I know they are always inflated and mostly built on very shaky assumptions ... ; ▪not only who the advisors are (if any), but really what role they play. One could have a great advisory board, but if they are not actively involved, it's worth nothing... ; ▪are there actual clients or at least prospects they talk to (and how/if I could facilitate); ▪generally, the GTM #strategy isn't well defined - that's often where I can play a positive advisory role. Do you think of anything else I should be looking for?