Is it team? Or customers?

I've been pounding away at the idea that the customer matters.

And the customer does matter.

But why then do all VC's harp on investing in the management team?

Trust.

No matter what the legal documents say, if your partner/customer really wanted to hurt you, he will find a way to do so.

So in order to have a good relationship, you need to have trust.

Customers trust the company to supply what's promised. In truth, they trust the PERSON to supply what is promised. That person is usually the sales guy, and with a start-up usually on the management team.

Without trust in the team, how can an investor know that a customer will trust the SAME team to come through?

So when an investor trusts in the management team to run the company, the investor also trusts the management team to take care of the customers.

Is this saying the same thing in 2 different ways? Probably. Trust can't be litigated, it can't be enforced. It either exists, or it doesn't. And when it doesn't, walk away.