You might think that a pitch is going well if the questions are easy for you to answer, and the investor is smiling politely.

But that's not always the case.

If you find that investors are asking you tough questions, that typically means the investor is interested in the business and wants to dig in more.

But sometimes tough questions put people on the defensive. And a red flag for our team at Hustle Fund is when founders get SUPER defensive, or even dismissive of the questions or ideas that we bring to the table.

This is because a defensive founder indicates that s/he may not be a coachable founder.

Now, you should feel free to push back against an investor if you have a different opinion. Especially if you have data to back up that opinion. But there's a difference between being a jerk and holding your ground.

See, we're looking for founders with growth mindsets. People who are open to receiving new information and hearing new perspectives, then changing their world view based on that new information.

It's a big red flag when it appears the founder lacks that mindset.