In an interview I’m always most interested in three basic things: who they are, what they’ve done, and why they did it. I usually start with the most important questions: “What are you curious about? What do you want to learn?”

And why do they want to join this company?

drawer in their kitchen, they’d see the cute little Nest screwdriver. And they’d smile. Every time they’d need to replace the batteries in their kid’s toy car, they’d grab our screwdriver. And suddenly the screwdriver became the toy and the car was forgotten. We knew it wasn’t just a hardware tool—it was a marketing tool. It helped customers

Bad boards come in all shapes and sizes and screw up in a million different ways. But they generally fall into three categories:

your product still has to learn how to crawl, and then walk, before it can run.

3. Vision: Assuming you got 1.0 more or less right, that original vision moves behind the data and insights you can get from actual customers. But your original vision should not be set aside entirely as you iterate. You should always keep in mind your longer-term goals and mission so that your product’s fundamental purpose doesn’t get lost.

You can outsource legal

So you don’t want your first pitch to be in front of the very top VC in your area. VCs talk to each other, so if one casts you aside, the others in that class may pass as well.

You need a story people can get behind.