Ep 81- How to Ace Due Diligence: Insights From a Top Angel Investor, With Tony Shipley

Tony Shipley, chair of the nationally-recognized angel group Queen City Angels (QCA), joins Shubha Chakravarthy to demystify the rigorous process of due diligence from an investor's perspective.

Drawing from his background as an engineer and a founder of QCA, Tony unpacks the structured, process-oriented framework that has enabled his group to achieve a "remarkably different" and lower failure rate in its investment funds.

Check out Tony's thoughtful, time tested views on: 

1. Why rigorous due diligence is the single biggest driver of investor success
2. The key attributes every investor evaluates before writing a check
3. How founders can turn diligence into a powerful discovery and learning process
4. The real reason uncoachable founders rarely get funded
5. How to make “greed overcome fear” when pitching investors
6. What every deep tech and life sciences founder must prove before investors say yes
7. The two make-or-break deliverables that define fundable milestones
8. What investors really look for in your market sizing (and why your TAM might be irrelevant)
9. The hidden art of building investor confidence through your sales strategy
10. How to build a moat that actually matters—across SaaS, life sciences, and advanced materials
11. Why founders underestimate the due-diligence deep dive into team dynamics
12. Common red flags on your cap table that kill deals before they start
13. The investor’s inside view on SAFE agreements—and why most angels won’t touch them
14. The one preparation habit that makes founders 10x more likely to get funded

and much more!