Whether you're at the seed or pre-seed stage, your team composition is crucial. 

🖇 Two co-founders. You’ll need at least two co-founders at your pre-seed stage – or one founder with one key employee who is all-in (more is fine, but less than two is a red flag). At your seed stage, you’ll need at least three or more people in key seats.

🦸🏼‍♂️ Superhero synergy. Your team needs to have good synergy. You have to show that your team works well together, whether through past collaborations or evident good dynamics. You need to really emphasize this and pay particular attention to balance the two scrambled eggs. Think of your team as a group of superheroes. Each one needs to bring a unique power. It doesn’t have to be everyone being a domain expert, but they need to bring something unique and special. So you have one person who’s a domain expert. You might have another one who’s a tech person who’s built AI before, and we’ve done X, Y, and Z. Make sure that’s clear from your team slide.

🐞 Relevant expertise. Experience must be relevant to your business. If your business is deep tech, you really need a chief technology officer. If you’re starting an e-commerce business, an executive with online or wholesale distribution is critical. Your team should be a fit for your business, be it AI, food or fashion. The ‘people fit’ must be there to create a worthwhile start-up. The ideal team comprises people whose expertise is a perfect fit for your start-up.

👑 High energy. You should all be rock stars. If they had you stand up and pitch yourself in one minute, the investors should be impressed by your experience and motivation. They should feel like they’re looking at a high-energy, hungry team ready to take on the world and work hard to conquer it. Many investments are turned down because investors feel like the team lacks energy or hunger. As they interact with you, make sure your team is exhibiting fantastic chemistry, motivation and is excited about your vision or the problem you are solving.