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Four a16z speedrun investors explain what founders commonly worry about before applying and why most of those concerns don't matter. They care about team quality and learning velocity, not polished videos, early traction, or perfect ideas.
- Investors evaluate "slope" — how fast founders learn and improve — not raw numbers. Qualitative progress like customer conversations and advisor recruitment counts as much as revenue.
- Team strength dominates the evaluation. Investors spend 80% of review time on founder bios and co-founder dynamics, looking for grit and shipping ability rather than polished presentation.
- Co-founder fit matters more than how long you've known each other. What counts is continuity of time spent building together, not how quickly you paired up.
- A 10-minute interview is enough because it tests whether you've done the work beforehand — talking to customers daily and understanding your market better than the investor does.