I have always thought of company investors the way boards at non-profits think of their board members with "The 3 Ws". Those 3 Ws being: -Wisdom -Work -Wealth Depending on how far along your startup is your company might need board members to have one, two or three of these W's. But any non profit and startup will tell you if the person has enough of wealth you're willing to make compromises on their wisdom and the work with which they can help you