
Ask HN: Approached by investors, what questions to ask? how to assess options? - atacrossroads
A friend and I have been running a small company for several years (not particularly tech focused), focused on building design IP and patents in the consumer space (not the troll variety). We have another partner who is generally not helpful. Friend &amp; I were approached by an investor&#x27;s representative (he knew of us already as he is related to our patent attorney) and after reviewing our track record, the discussion shifted to forming a brand new company without the unhelpful partner, setting a MUCH bigger target including both IP and commercialization, and pitching a business plan to the investor. Discussion ended on a very enthusiastic note, follow up discussions in the next few days. We are not sure what questions to ask. One obvious one: how do we know how serious the investor is how much effort to put into such a business plan &#x2F; pitch? We know there are tons more questions we need to ask them &amp; ourselves. Help?
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siegel
You'll certainly want to research the investor and see how credible they are.
It's somewhat difficult to know how serious they are, but credible investors
don't typically waste their time if they aren't serious about a potential
investment. Certainly ask around in your network about the investor (LinkedIn
is invaluable towards that end, by the way).

But this all begs two questions:

1) Is your interest in pursuing this new business strategy at all? If it is,
who cares about the investor. You need to create a business plan anyway. Your
first focus should be on what you want for your business going forward.

2) How is it that you plan to not involve your third partner? This has to be
handled delicately and intelligently. Otherwise you will be facing a potential
lawsuit and a definite cloud over your IP.

