Started going through early pre-seed SAFE conversations recently while building an AI workflow product.

One thing that surprised me is how quickly investor conversations shifted away from features and toward behavioral signals around usage.

Things like:

repeat usage when users return workflow timing operational urgency real decision moments

seem to matter much more than I initially expected.

Curious for founders who already went through early SAFE/pre-seed rounds:

What ended up mattering most in investor conversations? What surprised you? What signals changed the quality of discussions?