As a venture investor, the greatest challenge lies in finding founders who can recognize and confront undefined, complex problems with honesty and determination.
Most founders—whether intentionally or not—frame only the problems they can explain and solve to secure investment. Yet in reality, the most critical issues often arise from unseen or unacknowledged areas of the business. Without a leader capable of identifying and addressing these deeper, structural problems, a company rarely grows beyond a certain level.
Successful founders often say they were “lucky,” but what they truly mean is that they made a series of sound decisions under uncertainty, turning unpredictable circumstances into progress. “Luck” simply reflects the gap between expectation and outcome—things going better or worse than planned.
After investing in more than a hundred companies and engaging daily in their decisions—often joining their business development efforts firsthand—I’ve seen how few leaders truly focus on the right priorities. Many expend energy on low-impact tasks, miss critical opportunities, or waste resources. They move constantly, but not always forward.
In my own entrepreneurial journey, I faced countless unplanned events. The truth is, 80% of what happens in business is unplanned—and the key determinant of success lies in how one makes the right decisions in those moments, not in executing the planned 20%.
Predicting ten years ahead is impossible; even a few months can defy foresight. Still, every venture has non-negotiable outcomes—things that must happen, even if their timing is unknown. The most exceptional founders are those who can pursue immediate execution and long-term mission in balance, allocating resources wisely between today’s survival and tomorrow’s vision. Most, however, fall into extremes—either chasing short-term revenue or obsessing over a distant future while neglecting current realities.
Building a company is not a sprint; it’s a long, deliberate construction process, like stacking Lego blocks to form a vast castle. Distraction or misplacement can collapse the structure. Endurance requires crisis management, resource balance, and the agility to accelerate when opportunity arises.
Thus, in early-stage investing, the hardest—and most important—task is recognizing this quality in founders. Great technology, business models, or products are necessary but not sufficient. Even in the age of AI-driven decision systems, the ultimate differentiator remains the founder’s judgment—the ability to face uncertainty and choose rightly when no algorithm can.