It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that question—but it’s one that never gets old. Because while pitch decks might evolve, markets may shift, and founders will always tell compelling stories, the truth is often buried in the numbers.
And sometimes, those numbers whisper warnings.
Now, let me be clear: angels don’t expect perfection.
Most early-stage startups are messy. That’s fine. But there are certain financial signals—some loud, some subtle
Here’s how I typically read the financial tea leaves:
𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘃𝘀. 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀
If you’re burning through ₦15 million a month but haven’t clearly mapped that spend to any tangible outcomes—whether it’s user growth, product completion, or key hires—that’s a problem.
Burn is not the enemy. Unjustified burn is.
Too often, I see startups that celebrate raising funds without clarity on what those funds are meant to unlock. A good founder ties spend to milestones. A great one ties spend to traction.
𝗡𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻
This one hits close to home. I’ve seen startups overly reliant on one client, one contract, or one grant. The day that single revenue stream dries up, the business collapses like a badly made sharwama wrap.
I’m not saying you need ten customers on day one. But I do need to know you’ve thought about what happens if your one doesn’t renew.
Even Sterling Bank-the “one-customer bank”-does not have only one customer
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵
“Dr. King, we’ll be profitable in 12 months.”
I nod. I smile. Then I ask: how?
Profitability isn’t just a future point on a chart—it’s a strategy. And if there’s no concrete plan to grow revenue, manage costs, or leverage existing assets, then your profitability projection is just a PowerPoint fantasy.
𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀
I’ve had founders pitch CAC and LTV like it’s a TED Talk—until I dig in and realize they’ve never done the math. Or worse, they hand me financials with gaps bigger than potholes on Lekki/Epe Expressway.
…Reminds me of a chartered accountant co-founder who kept misrepresenting transaction volumes as revenue. I flagged it. He promised to fix it. Then I ran into him at another pitch event—same script. Word for word.
Sometimes, it’s not even a mistake. Sometimes, it’s outright misleading.
So yes, the question from AAA was simple—but the answer reflects years of hard lessons. In this game, 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦.
