Start-upTalk

If a VC Asked You These Questions Tomorrow, Would Your Start-up Be Ready?

Most founders believe they are being judged on their idea. They are not.

Venture capital decisions are shaped by how founders think, how they learn and how they respond when certainty disappears. The questions investors ask are not theoretical. They are diagnostic. They reveal whether a company understands its own reality or is performing confidence.

This matters even more when we talk about Black-led start-ups.

In the United States, Black founders receive less than 2 percent of venture capital funding. In the United Kingdom, the figure remains below 1 percent, despite comparable levels of innovation and education. Research from Stanford, RateMyInvestor, Extend Ventures and Harvard shows that Black founders are more likely to be asked risk-focused questions, while white founders are asked growth-focused ones. The bar is not just higher. It is different.

Why Integrity Matters More Than Strategy in a Start-Up

There is a quiet truth in the start-up world that rarely appears in pitch decks or accelerator conversations. It sits beneath every idea sketched on a napkin, every investor meeting and every founder who insists they are “building the future.” That truth is not innovation or capital. It is integrity.

Integrity is the real architecture of a sustainable business. It lives in the unseen choices and private decisions, in the moments when no one is watching and you choose truth over convenience.

It is present when you honour a commitment even though it costs you time and when you refuse to copy a competitor because your originality is part of your moral code, not just your brand.

Start-ups rise on energy, but they scale on trust, because in the early days the world is not buying your product. It is buying…