Characteristics of Founders Who Get VC Funding

What are the characteristics of founders that raise $ and build big companies?

As a 2x tech founder turned VC, I’ve spent two decades on both sides of the table, building companies and then backing the next wave of founders.

The best founders I’ve backed — the ones I’d bet on again — share critical traits.

Founders hitting 100M+ ARR and building $1B+ companies aren't just smart and driven. Plenty of people are.

Here's what sets them apart:

✅ Curiosity. They're obsessive learners. They experiment. They read, ask questions, test ideas, and engage deeply with their market. They want to know what their customers are really thinking, and they never stop digging.

✅ Clock speed. They move fast. Not just in product cycles, but in how they communicate, make decisions, and close loops. Speed compounds. The best founders build companies where clock speed is embedded in the culture, from how quickly features ship, to how fast a proposal lands with a customer, to how rapidly feedback turns into action. Clock speed also enables them to rapidly change course when expected results aren’t being achieved.

✅ Customer-obsessed. They don’t build in a vacuum. They stay close to their customers, and build what customers actually need. Even though Drata is one of the fastest-growing companies, CEO Adam Markowitz still listens to Gong calls every week to stay connected to market needs. When we meet with Alon Talmor at Ask-AI, he brings usage metrics to every conversation, not just to show what they're building and value they’re providing,  but to explain why.

✅ Perseverance. Building is difficult. The best founders push through pivots, near-deaths, and challenging situations. While others burn out, they stay focused and get to a successful resolution.

One founder flew out from the west coast to the east coast, waiting outside the home of an engineer they wanted to recruit, to demonstrate how much the engineer was valued...Another founder waited three days outside the HQ for the CFO to return from a fogged in flight to get the final signature on the deal for the quarter.

Winning founders don't give up. They go the distance, and they close.

✅ Judgment. This is what ties it all together.  It is hard to define, but easy to observe when it’s present, or when it’s lacking. Should you go the extra distance to sign a key recruit?Should you offer a freemium option, and for how long? What discounts should you offer early adopters, and for how long?

Judgment is knowing when to follow the playbook and when to go off-script. It's also knowing your limitations and when to ask for help. Great founders have a sharp nose for signal before it shows up on the dashboard.

Not every founder starts with all these traits. But the ones who go the distance usually have them and develop them.

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