5 Good Minutes

Host Paul Francis
Entrepreneur, Coach, Advisor, & Consultant
Featured Episode
Venture Capitalist | Mary King 
Senior, Associate Aligned Climate Capital
Listen to What Actual Investors Say. 
 Learn about What They Really Want.
Short, actionable conversations with venture capitalists, angel investors, family offices, and ecosystem leaders — designed to help founders understand how investors think before Start-Ups raise capital. A Series for founders backed by investors.
Series Episodes
Concise investor interviews indexed by stage, sector, and theme
Founder Cheat Codes
Practical intelligence extracted from every conversation with Founder tips
Episode Data Reports
Episode and series data-driven research built from interviews and investor surveys
5
Good Minutes
Designed for founders. Overtime sessions for extra value. Bonus Rounds to get more familiar.
5
Investor Types
Angels · Family Offices · VCs · Ecosystem Builders · Fund-of-Funds 
5
Core Themes
Founding Teams · Fundraising · Pitch Strategy · Cap Table · Due Diligence 
▷ FEATURED EPISODE 1

Mary King, SVP
@ Aligned
Climate
Capital

Investor Type: VC 
Category: Climate Tech · AI
Hot Take: "The team is thing you are underwriting"
Tap to watch
Episode Summary
Mary King of Aligned Climate Capital shares what investors look for as startups approach Series A: a strong team, real traction, industry knowledge, and clear communication. 

She explains why customer behavior can validate unconventional ideas and why the right investor brings more than capital. 

Key Takeaways

→ The 60-second rule — What a GP actually processes in the first minute of your deck

→ Three hard stops — The signals that end interest before a meeting is ever booked

→ What survives the filter — The deck elements that consistently earn a follow-up
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About 5 Good Minutes 
A series for founders backed by investors
Every episode is designed to surface one thing: how investors actually think. We turn 5-minute conversations into watchable, searchable, and actionable short form educational podcasts for founders at every stage.
5 Good Minutes is not a pitch platform. It is fundraising preparation for founders.
INVESTOR INSIGHTS
Hear What Matters Most to Investors 
Pitch decks, founder's mistakes, valuations, equity & more.
Founder Kill Signals
The behaviors, answers, and patterns that end investor interest immediately — before due diligence ever begins
Investment Decision Models
How different investor types structure their yes/no frameworks — and what actually moves a deal from interest to term sheet
VC Behavioral Profiles
What drives conviction at seed, Series A, and growth stages — and how the evaluation criteria shift at each level
Founder's Mistakes
The most common errors founders make in decks, meetings, and follow-ups — and the specific fixes that change outcomes
LATEST EPISODES
Recent Conversations
Learn what investors want and don't want. 
EPISODE DIRECTORY
Every Episode Starts with 5 Good Minutes 
Then Overtime and a Bonus Round
Investor Types
VC · Angel Investor · Family Office · Ecosystem Builder
Sectors
AI · Fintech · Climate Tech · Deep Tech · Health Tech · Impact 
Theme
Fundraising · Cap Tables · Pitch Strategy · Valuation · Team · Market · Scale 
Content
01 — 5 Good Minutes — Investor tips and insights to fundraising
02 — Overtime — Investor thesis and ethos
03 — Bonus Round — Get to know investors better
04 — Topic Clips — Insightful Shorts
KEY FEEDBACK
Data-Driven Research
from Investor Interviews
5 Good Minutes Reports translate raw interview and survey intelligence into structured, quantitative research. Giving founders actual data and a foundation for fundraising decisions.
Episode Data Reports
Quantitative analysis of investor behavior, check sizes, and decision timelines — drawn from aggregated interview data and direct investor surveys.
Series Data Reports
Deep dives by funding stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series — what investors expect at each level and how evaluation criteria evolve.
Anonymous Reports
Candid insights from investors who speak off the record about what really moves deals — the version that never makes it into a public interview.
Reports are built from episode source material, not aggregated third-party data or recycled VC blogs.
5 Good Minutes
Hosted by Paul Francis.
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 Host: LinkedIn
info@5goodminutes.com
Locations
Los Angeles, California
Perth, Western Australia
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