This Angel Investor Shares Where She Believes Founders Go Wrong When Seeking To Hit Their First Million Dollars In Revenue – AfroTech
During a CES 2026 panel titled “Getting to the First Million,” Lockie Andrews, angel investor and founder of Catalyst Consulting, offered advice for how to succeed as a startup.
Be Intentional With Your Customers
Andrews noted that through her various roles, she has interacted with 12 companies each month. She believes one of the biggest problems for startups as they strive to hit that first $100,000 mark is a sense of desperation for their first check, which may lead them to select customers who are less likely to stay committed to the product and offer feedback as the company grows.
“They end up panicking and feeling like ‘Oh wow, I completely left the zone that I was supposed to be playing in, but I need to appease these customers because investors will be looking at that performance,’” she mentioned.
“So, make sure you take your time with those customers, interview them to make sure they understand where you are, to hopefully push you through all the difficulties that you’ll have in that first $100,000, and they won’t abandon you going through the process. Because the worst thing is if your particular product is working, but your customers you’ve chosen poorly are not the best customers,” Andrews continued.
Venture Capital Funding
She also shared some cautions for startups seeking venture capital (VC). With a few exceptions, she stated that startups should not seek venture capital funding if they generate $1 million or less in revenue. Instead, she suggested they begin building relationships with investors for when they hit the $3 million milestone. She stressed the importance of knowing the market and understanding opportunity could help them come prepared to VC funders.
That’s not to say that, as they work to scale, startups should forgo angel investors — a term for individuals who invest in startups with their personal funds — according to the Angel Capital Association. Andrews suggested angel investors may be more patient with young startups in comparison to VC funds with specific return requirements.
“Many of the angels that I’ve spoken to and those who I’ve taken money from, they really get involved. They have an expertise or some passion about my business, and I have them on my advisory board,” Andrews shared during CES 2026.
“You need to have an investor base that understands that, as you got in, you realized that the opportunity, and especially if you started small, may not be where you initially took that first check. It may be because you ran it and expanded and realized that it was some other opportunity within a space that you were easily able to go after. It’s much easier to do that than with venture capitalists who, if you’re not in their charter, by definition, they’ll be looking for a way to offload that investment.”
All in all, she suggests that first-time or early-stage founders consider angels before venture capitalists, who have a fund and are seeking to meet specific returns.
