Serial Entrepreneur: It Takes One Meeting to Tell If a Startup Will Fail

Writing over at Venturebeat, Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur Liron Petrushka offers a quick and simple guide for checking the pulse of a startup to see if it stands a chance for a long life. Drawing upon his experience working with many early-stage companies, Petrushka has created a rubric for grading a team during a product strategy management meeting. If certain prerequisites aren’t met during this meeting, Petrushka knows the company isn’t worth his investment.

The factors considered include the tone and dynamics of the discussion as well as the ways projects are managed. Petrushka also keeps a keen eye on the way a founder/CEO acts and whether he/she is respected by the team. Petrushka’s standards reflect a belief that a successful startup requires a strong leader who’s not afraid to get involved in product design and management. It’s also vital that this figurehead has the final say when it comes to decision-making and that this power is respected by all in the room. This is not to say that the leader needs to be a totalitarian but that he or she must have the ability to maintain a robust sense of order throughout. Without this ability, the company is sure to crumble.

To learn more about Petrushka’s rubric, read on at Venturebeat

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