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Investment

Every article from Steven Dossou on investment.

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How to Run Due Diligence on an Early-Stage Startup: My First-Cheque Checklist

The due diligence process I run before a first cheque: the four questions that end most deals, the numbers to rebuild, and the exit maths to do first.

Read the essay

2026-10-07

7 min read

Investment · 2026-09-10

Investor readiness is a data room problem, not a pitch problem

Founders rehearse the pitch and neglect the folder. The twelve documents that should exist before your first investor meeting, and what each one is really testing.

Read · 4 min read

Investment · 2026-07-15

Introducing AETHER: The "Tinder of Fundraising" Is Here to Transform Your Growth

<strong>AETHER</strong> by IRIS Vision Capital: The Matchmaking Platform for Capital

Read · 3 min read

Investment · 2026-06-24

Why 95% of Early-Stage Founders Fail to Secure Funding

It is almost never the market. It is almost always the founder. Here are the five patterns I see in African and European decks that never close.

Read · 8 min read