Sharp, motivated people...capable people of integrity. That's number 1.
Intellectual or technological innovation, and a commitment to keep innovating. Patent protection is cool.
A product or service that adds real value. Not interested in a gimmick. Not interested in anything that has its marketing success based on the ignorance or impulses of the buyer. Don't want the selling skill to be the thing that carries its success. If it's a good product or service and adds real value, it does the "selling". Then it's just a matter of getting it in front of people who can use it.
Prefer to be in the "wholesale" market. Just don't really dig retail. I'd rather be selling to someone who knows what they need, who even helps you develop the product in a mutually beneficial relationship, and who can see how it will contribute to their success.
A high barrier to entry. It stinks to work really hard to put a deal together and then get pushed out before you recover your investment or reach your goals because someone else with more capital can jump right into your space.
A large market...national or international. I don't want to be selling in the local market.
It's gotta be "scalable". Everything is to some extent. Software/Technology is scalable on turbo-charge. An iPhone App is a hyper-example. I'm just looking for opportunities to ramp a venture up quickly once its foundation is in place. Scalability can come through technology implementation, or through business model. More on that some other time.
Leverage to technology in production or management. It can be as simple as using a cloud based ERP to increase productivity, efficiency, to keep moving fast and making decisions with accurate info and keep the competition eating your dust. I particularly like it when technology allows me to leap-frog legacy competitors in the space...kind of like developing countries going straight to cellular phones and never laying the miles of copper.
