I think its more about the investors knowing about the:
team: have these guys/gals done it before? are they competant?
opportunity: what are they trying to build? is it functional? is it solving a problem?
market space: how big is this opportunity? if they take the risk on this startup, it needs to be big enough to win big even if they somehow fail.
Hope this is helpful.
Would also appreciate the ideas of others…
Adam Salmen