Disclaimer as I've never dated before. I've just learned this by hearing from other women online (mostly from Black American women). If you choose a man based on his potential, then he's likely to leave you once he reaches that potential and leave you for a woman that he really wanted all along, a trophy wife. You would have invested in him, supported him (either financially and/or emotionally) as he advanced his career just for him to dump you for a woman who never had to work to earn his commitment in the first place. He would basically treat you as a bench warmer.

There is an additional layer to this if you are a woman of color, whether you're dating someone of your own race or another race. The Black women I've watched/read (another disclaimer: I'm not a Black woman, either) warned each other that a Black man may leave his Black girlfriend/wife for a lighter-skinned, mixed Black, or non-Black woman once he becomes successful enough. This can apply to other WOC, as well, or even White women who are with White men with a racial fetish. This is another way in which we would have to vet men. Wait until he is successful to give him a chance.