Episode Summary
Neal Bloom takes the stage at the 2026 San Diego Angel Conference Knowledge & Networking Event at SDSU to walk a room full of aspiring and active angel investors through the four questions he uses to evaluate early-stage companies. Using live audience exercises - pitching Uber, Airbnb, and Palantir in one sentence, debating whether Viori was a pass or a miss - he turns startup evaluation from an abstract skill into something visceral and personal. This isn’t theory. It’s how the sausage gets made when real capital is on the line.
Key Topics
The four-question framework for evaluating startups
Why clarity is a test of the founder, not the investor
One-sentence pitching exercises with Uber, Airbnb, and Palantir
Venture scale outcomes vs. good small businesses
Salt Couture vs. Reef vs. Vuori - three paths from the same starting point
How EBITDA, CAC, and growth get valued differently across business types
Excitement as signal, not hype
The calendar test: would you spend one more hour on this company?
