Four Questions Before You Write the Check

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? Links & Resources * San Diego Angel Conference (SDAC) * SDSU Fowler College of Business * Evo Nexus * NuFund * Vuori * Rising Tide Partners Connect on LinkedIn * Neal Bloom This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/

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Four Questions Before You Write the Check is an episode from Tacos and Tech Podcast by Neal Bloom.

This episode is 29:19 long.

This episode was published on Apr 7, 2026.

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