Last month, I was talking to an entrepreneur about his experience with a variety of investors over multiple rounds of funding. Toward the end of the conversation, I asked which investor provided the most value and why. Without missing a beat, he said one of the investors stood out, and that the main driver of value was simply responsiveness. Anytime the entrepreneur had a question, the investor would respond immediately with an email or a phone call, regardless of the time of day or day of the week.

At first, when an investor gets involved, there’s a period of time where the entrepreneur and investor feel out the relationship. What’s appropriate? What’s a good cadence for checking in? What areas does the investor like to work on or help with? And so on. From an investor’s perspective, they might invest in a couple of startups per year, up to dozens depending on their style. Whereas an entrepreneur might have a handful of serious investors and several casual investors on their cap table. The ratios of relationships are nowhere near the same.

As an entrepreneur goes through an issue, or opportunity for the first time, having an investor who has been there before in a similar situation can be invaluable. Only, the investor has to want to share and spend time with the entrepreneur for it to be mutually beneficial.

Thinking about this entrepreneur’s comment—that his most valuable investor was the one who was most responsive—makes sense. The entrepreneur is in the trenches, working hard to make progress, and having an on-demand sounding board with experience and knowledge is invaluable.

My recommendation for entrepreneurs when talking to potential investors is to ask how they like to work with the entrepreneurs they invest in. Entrepreneurs would do well to have a go-to person they look forward to talking with, who has relevant experience and, crucially, is super responsive.