Have you ever noticed how some startups with average ideas crush it, while others with brilliant concepts crash and burn? The secret is not in the pitch deck — it’s in the team. 

After sitting through hundreds of pitches from early-stage startups, I’ve noticed patterns that consistently predict future trouble. The following warning signs reveal more about a company’s potential than any market analysis report ever could: 

The most risky team isn’t an inexperienced one; It’s a team with misaligned workload expectations. 

There are situations in which one founder expects everyone to work on weekends while another expects work-life balance. From day one, this team is set for failure.

Before investing, a diligent VC should have separate conversations with each founder and obtain a clear sense of their individual expectations for the first 24 months. You want all core team members on the same page. This isn’t optional.

How teams handle disagreement during Q&As.

When founders interrupt each other, contradict each other’s answers, or show surprise at their co-founder’s statements – you’re witnessing communication problems that will only amplify under pressure. Great teams can disagree behind closed doors, but they always present a unified group in front of others.

The balance between technical and non-technical voices.

In strong teams, product direction is a result from healthy tension between technical constraints and market needs. In other words, technical members must have an appropriate level of influence on product decisions.

Neither extreme is good. You don’t want to invest in products that are technically impressive but unsellable, or in products that are marketable but impossible to build. Always aim for somewhere in the middle.

How founders discuss previous failures. 

This red flag is perhaps one of the easiest to notice. It reveals everything about their ability to grow.

Among startups, you will encounter two types of teams:

• Teams who continuously blame externalities (“the market wasn’t ready,” “investors didn’t understand our vision”)
• Teams who recognize their mistakes and demonstrate the specific steps they’re taking to turn things around

Always bet on the latter.

Key takeaway 

The best predictor of success in startups isn’t solely about the idea, the market, nor the fancy credentials of team members. It also heavily relies on how the founding team operates under pressure and the quality of their team dynamics. 

Let’s talk more about how to evaluate startups in our next Round Table.