As business angels, we consider a lot of factors before helping a start-up with investment of any kind (cash, connections or time). I often get asked by entrepreneurs what those factors are and my response is always with the same question "Do you really have a Vision?"as I expect a founder worth their salt to be able to clearly paint a 10-year picture (which for me is the minimum) of where they're going with the venture in my mind. How they do that is a matter for them as though I'm pretty much a visual guy, I can dig into text and numbers just as well. If they can’t paint a picture I can see, rule is don’t engage any further.