Action Fuels Reality

Source of motivation"Without actions, the world would still be an idea" — General Georges Doriot Founder, INSEAD. Startup Discovery Digest* Kiwi Launch provides an all-in-one scheduling and online booking software for service-based businesses to easily manage their online presence and generate bookings with real-time availability. (Seed, UAE)* Legal Karma is an embedded legal products company that provides easy, affordable and accessible legal services to customers through a white-label service offered by banks and credit unions. Their solution offers a unique value proposition with trained customer support, automation, and white-labeling that is not currently offered in the market. (Seed, Austin/US)* Lease Simple is a platform that simplifies the finance experience of renting a home for Gen Z renters. It offers flexible rent payment plans, security deposit insurance, and credit building tools. The company is focused on consolidating the finance experience for renters and is well-positioned in a growing market. (Pre-seed, Canada)Handling Investor Relations and Steering Through Due Diligence for Early-Stage StartupsUpon showing initial curiosity following the first discussion, I can share insights into our everyday approach for planning and executing due diligence.Family Relationships Among Co-founders: Co-founders who are related by romantic or family relationships  can be tricky to judge. I do not necessarily consider this a red flag but a yellow sign. The team can entirely be made up of family members, or the co-founders can be a couples/significant others. However, this information should be shared during calls or meetings, as it can be difficult to extract at times and it leaves a bad taste when discovered laterTeam Composition and Presentation: Early-stage startups often include all team members on a team slide, including advisors, VCs, relatives, entertainers, and interns. However, having a crowded team slide is unnecessary. As an investor, I focus on whether the product, market, and founder capabilities  are well-matched rather than the team size, whether it's two or twenty. It's not expected to have a large and excellent team in the pre-seed or seed stage. Quality is more important than quantity.Conflicting Visions  among co-founders: Detecting disagreements or potential conflicts among co-founders, especially concerning the startup's future direction, may signal future issues or even a potential breakup.Complicated cap table: A complex capitalization table with various share classes, differing liquidation preferences, and unclear ownership structures can make future fundraising and exits more challenging. Any non-active x-founding team member is especially a huge concern.Overemphasis on "serial" entrepreneurs and complex structures: Startups that prioritize "serial" entrepreneurs or "advisor" figures, or involve intricate structures like tech leads and phantom shares, might focus more on superficial aspects rather than the actual business.Thank you for reading Startup Istanbul. This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Startup Istanbul at newsletter.startupistanbul.com/subscribe