What VCs Really Bet On: Founders and Their Teams

In every early-stage pitch, there’s an unspoken tension: investors are assessing not just the business model, but the people behind it. Founders often bear the weight of vision and charisma, but the silent question remains - can this team build and scale a company that endures?

Across the African startup landscape, we’ve seen brilliant ideas falter due to misaligned co-founders, weak leadership transitions, or an unclear division of roles as companies grow. While capital is important, it's the founding team’s cohesion, adaptability, and shared vision that often make the real difference between breakout success and slow unraveling. Investors know this and increasingly, they’re betting not just on the brilliance of a founder, but on the strength and synergy of the team they lead.

To unpack this, we sat down with Toun Tunde-Anjous, Founder and Culture Partner at The People Practice, a firm that has worked closely with high-growth startups across Africa to build intentional, people-first organisations. In this conversation, Toun answers five essential questions that every founder and funder should reflect on. From aligning co-founder roles to navigating difficult conversations and evolving leadership, her insights offer a masterclass in what truly sustains a startup beyond the pitch deck.

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1. How does the composition of a founding team influence investor confidence and funding opportunities?

Toun: Investors look for teams that demonstrate a mix of things, from vision and complementary

skills to chemistry and a proven track record:

● Complementary Skills: A balanced mix of technical, operational, and business expertise. For example, a CEO with business and domain expertise and a CTO joining forces will always be seen as a good combination.

● Proven Track Record: Prior startup experience, industry knowledge, or evidence of resilience. I know, from experience, that founders who have had leadership positions in previously funded startups are easier for investors to back.

● Chemistry and Cohesion: Co-founders who communicate well and resolve conflicts productively are favourites. If they have worked together in the past, even better. This chemistry is key, and I have, unfortunately, as a people operator, seen a lack of cohesion break co-founders and founding teams.

● Commitment & Long-Term Vision: Investors avoid teams with misaligned incentives or unclear equity structures, as they signal a lack of commitment and a potentially shaky long-term vision. When co-founders demonstrate a clear and shared (not 95%:5%) commitment, it significantly reduces perceived risk for investors. In most cases, if the above three areas are met, investors can help the founders with this area.

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2. How can co-founders align effectively around vision, roles, and decision-making, especially when the company is growing fast and roles begin to shift?

Toun: The evolution of startups presents a dichotomy: growth is positive, but without proper oversight and structure, progress can be easily derailed. As startups scale, roles and responsibilities naturally shift from their initial states. Any unaddressed misalignment can impede growth. To stay in sync, they should:

● Regularly Revisit The Vision: Co-founders should revisit their vision at least quarterly, focusing on goals, expectations, and contributions. They can hold quarterly "vision sync" meetings to ensure alignment on long-term goals.

● Clarify Roles Early: Co-founders would need to define responsibilities and expectations early (for instance, CEO for fundraising and growth, CTO for product and technology, COO for operations), but remain flexible. This proactive approach can prevent conflicts arising from perceived imbalances in workload or contributions, which often lead to discussions about equity splits.

● Establish Decision-Making Frameworks: Determine which decisions require consensus versus individual authority. Clearly define the CEO's role and decision-making boundaries, including who has final authority, early in the company's life.

● Embrace the Evolution of Roles: As the company grows, co-founders must be prepared to step into new roles or even step back from previous responsibilities as needed.

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3. How do you recommend founders approach difficult conversations, including equity splits, performance concerns, or long-term commitment, early in the company’s life?

Toun: Easy. With a huge mix of proactiveness, clarity, and honesty regarding performance and personal strengths. Avoiding difficult discussions can lead to founder fallout and ultimately cause the startup to fold. Address key issues proactively around:

● Equity Splits

Use objective criteria (e.g., role, commitment, contributions) rather than equal splits by default.

● Performance Concerns

Set clear expectations and feedback loops early; if a co-founder isn’t meeting them, address it immediately to prevent resentment. An easy way to facilitate this is by having regular co-founder catch-up calls.

● Long-Term Commitment

Discuss vesting schedules (typically 4 years with a 1-year cliff) and what happens if a co-founder leaves the business.

● Exits

In general, decide and agree on (and document) what exits look like for existing co-founders, remaining co-founder(s), and the business itself. Have this formalised within the founder agreement.

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4. As a company scales, the founder's role often changes. What can founders do to evolve as leaders and avoid becoming the bottleneck in their own organisation?

Toun: I have observed and worked with founders as they have struggled to transition from doer to leader. To scale effectively, founders will need to:

● Delegate Authority and Decision Making: Empower leaders beneath you to make decisions, not just execute tasks.

● Hire Executives Who Complement Your Weaknesses: If you are a visionary but lack execution skills, hire a strong COO. If you are weak in marketing (which you should never be as a founder, by the way), bring in a Head of Partnerships.

● Focus on Strategy, Not Tactics: Dedicate time to fundraising, culture, and long-term planning instead of day-to-day operations. I recently worked with the CEO of a legacy business who wanted to be specifically coached on culture, as a tool for optimisation.

● Seek Executive Coaching, Training or Mentorship: Learn from experienced CEOs who have scaled businesses before. The mentorship can range from informal check-ins with investors to specialised training programmes.

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5. As startups grow, how should founding teams adapt their roles and responsibilities to support scaling operations?

Toun: As startups form, a need for generalists skilled in multiple roles is common. However, as

startups evolve, founders must adapt by:

● Specialising Roles within Founding Teams:

Early-stage generalists must transition into specialised leaders. For example:

-The CTO shifts from coding to managing engineering teams.

-The COO transitions from managing finances, HR, legal, and general operations to building processes, scaling teams, optimising GTM (go-to-market) execution, and overseeing Finance/HR leaders. I would encourage every COO to listen to Dotun Olowoporoku’s ‘Building The Future’ podcast episode with Bode Abifarin, Flutterwave’s past COO.

-The CEO, often deeply involved in everything, can focus on high-level strategy, investor relations, company culture, and executive hiring.

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● Bringing in Professional Managers

Founders may need to hire experienced executives (e.g., CFO, VP Sales) to replace themselves in key functions and to facilitate the next stage of growth.

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● Stepping Back When Necessary

Some founders ultimately transition to advisory roles if they’re no longer the best fit for the company’s evolving needs. VCs bet on exceptional teams, not just ideas. Founders who align early, communicate openly, and adapt their leadership as the company grows will maximise their chances of success. By proactively addressing issues like equity, performance, and evolving roles, founding teams can navigate scaling challenges and build successful, sustainable companies.

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The startup journey is often glorified as a solo founder’s marathon, but in truth, it’s a team sport - one that demands shared vision, evolving roles, and tough conversations from day one. As Toun so clearly outlines, investors may write the first cheque based on the founder’s clarity and conviction, but long-term success hinges on how well the founding team works together through growth, friction, and change. For founders building in Africa’s dynamic and complex markets, this alignment isn’t just nice to have - it’s a strategic advantage. The earlier teams invest in culture, role clarity, and communication, the better equipped they are to scale companies that last.

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Toun Tunde-Anjous is the Founder and Culture Partner at The People Practice, an innovative and versatile people (HR) and culture professional with 10 years of progressive experience across a variety of sectors in SSA (Tech, oil & gas and investment management) providing core people-related solutions and co-creating innovative people-centred culture.

She has collaborated with a wide range of industry and startup leaders to translate corporate strategy into people initiatives that enhance organisational performance, employee engagement, and business value. She has also assisted startups in scaling up and led a wide range of complex change projects that resulted in increased business impact, operational excellence, and a positive employee experience.

Toun provides leadership to a team of professionals to power startups and companies through people, culture and technology solutions, including recruitment, culture creation and alignment, training, people strategy and so on. She has worked with over 40 startups and businesses across a wide variety of sectors including fintech, health, property, logistics, education, lifestyle, service and NGOs on people and culture.