I can tell within 15 minutes if I should invest in a founder—@MelodievdB was one of them. Founders always ask what the investment criteria is for VCs. Investors will give different answers, but it almost always comes down to one thing - conviction in the founder / ceo.  I first met Mel while giving a talk to the new @Techstars cohort in 2022. I met dozens of budding entrepreneurs that evening, but Mel stood out amongst them.  She told me about her company, which targeted the excess inventory market for SMB retailers across the country. It’s a complex solution in a legacy space, but what she lacked in deep technical expertise, she made up for in tenacity and grit that came through in aspects of her communication and follow-through. It reminded me a lot of myself early in my founder journey.  We invested in the pre-seed round early in the journey and since then, they’ve rebranded to Max Retail and have gone on to raise a seed round and now a $15m Series A from top investors including Nosara Capital, @rethinkimpact, @interplay, @M13Company, @FundArtemis, @StandUpVentures, @OverlineVC, and Regatta VC. So what has made Mel different than other founders? ➝ High integrity - Mel always sends out quarterly investor updates without fail, including not only the wins, but also weak points and how they plan to address them. ➝ Look at their growth - it’s iterative and consistent. Nothing fancy or exponential - just quarter-by-quarter blocking and tackling to automate what had previously been manual industry-wide.  ➝ Grit - instead of building in a go-big or go-home “waterfall style” and demanding everything be automated before going to market, she’s been able to chip away and reach product-market fit over time. Who’s a founder you believe in purely based on conviction?