Momentum.

Something we have been talking about at Boost VC a lot recently is momentum. Momentum is the lifeblood of a startup. It’s a currency in itself when a startup can articulate that momentum clearly.

At Boost VC our decisions are made based on:

• Our relationship with the founders

• The opportunity in the market

• The momentum of founders

If you are a sports fan, you understand momentum. For some reason I keep thinking about Tracy McGrady wielding his spirit and scoring 13 points in 35 second against the Spurs, or Vince Young in the 2006 Rosebowl…potentially the greatest sports game in history.

Momentum is willed into existence by the founders of a startup through 3 elements:

• Traction

• Team

• Urgency

Fundraising, to some degree, is all about story telling. Your traction, team and market are tools that founders use to tell the story. Momentum isn’t only about articulating what your traction is, it’s also about where it’s going, and allowing for the meeting participants to connect the dots as to how well it’s going.

It’s about clearly articulating that you understand what is important and where you would get the next hit of momentum.

I just wrote out a whole thing around a format I like, but what I realized was that Momentum is about clearly articulating where you are, where the market is, and the momentum is the investor understanding where the company is headed and why that’s exciting.

Lots of founders correctly articulate what they do. Lots of founders articulate where they are going. Few founders are able to clearly communicate both. Momentum causes urgency. Investors will trip over themselves in order to invest if momentum and timing merge.