What are the top factors that investors look for in a team? Do they only look at the team as a whole or do they also require the CEO to have certain credentials or background?
Funding Credibility Investors Team Skill
Investors don't expect founders of early stage companies to be CEO material - a CEO can be brought on-board later on or one of the founders can be groomed into that role. What investors are looking for is a balance of required skills on a team and any relevant past experiences that could help the team in the current venture. Education would be helpful in certain fields (Education, Life Sciences, etc.) but not a must for all fields. Being a graduate of a top-tier school helps from a networking point of view and it's much easier to get funding for graduates of schools like Stanford and MIT because of the alumni network introductions.