@Hadley because revenue is a lagging indicator of success and growth can be manipulated through access to capital

@alexgeana I think it’s more than really strong founding teams can raise their seed round with less traction

@Hadley What is the sample size?

@krystiangebis Around 160 seed stage investments over 11 years

@Hadley If traction at this stage is not a good indicator, what would you say is? Founder? Product Fit? Market Size? Distribution?

@AnandSheth2 Founders/team is by far most important followed by market and product vision

@Hadley This statement is made with a broad brush. Details matter. Sectors and timing matter. Milestones per company differ from sector to sector. Be more specific and you’ll get better answers and make better investment decisions.

@peter_roach8 Sure, the main thing is it doesn’t hold other factors like founder quality constant

@Hadley What are the traits of the founder/team that you have found to outperform? I.e. what do you look for in founders? Is it analytical and pedigree or more intuition based?

@alexjh120 It’s really hard to generalize. Much more intuition than analytical/pedigree

@Hadley What do you think is a better correlation?

@wingod Founders

@Hadley Just checking, does this mean that when you have a team with deep experience in the space you don't need proof that "the dogs like the dog food"? Their experience makes you comfortable that they will be able to fine-tune a value prop and efficiently acquire customers?

@TomSchryver Lot of factors go into it but yes that’s the basic idea

@Hadley 💯 In the first institutional round of financing, traction is a red herring and gives you a false sense of security!

@sc0ttlaw We’ll said

@Hadley @Hadley How is 'traction' being defined? ie squishy PMF based on free MVPs, or core products w/ realistic pricing? Is Competitive Landscape part of traction score? ie is early-traction considered in isolation, or against all possible customer solns?

@scottdwitt It was a subject score we gave every opportunity when making a decision

@Hadley Is this because traction (or the value it projects) can be exaggerated? I interpreted your statement as negative initially, but is there a flip side to this disparity?

@LiveSimulator I think it’s more that many of the strongest founders are able to raise seed round with less traction and founders matter more than traction