Team
- Tell me a bit about your background and your co-founder(s)’s background.
- How do you all know each other?
- Why is your team uniquely motivated to solve this problem?
- Why did you pick your co-founder?
- Who do you need to hire during the next 18 months to be successful?
- When was the last time you had disagreed on a business issue? How did you resolve it?
- Do the founders have the knowledge to build the technology or would they need outside help?
- What does the cap table look like? (equity distribution across founders)
Problem You’re Solving
- What is the specific problem you are solving?
- How big / serious of a problem is it?
- Why is this a problem?
- Who has this problem?
Solution/ Product
- How are people solving this problem today?
- Describe your solution to this problem.
- What effort / timing is required to switch from a different solution to yours?
- (For deeptech) What is unique about the tech? (Do you have any patents / IP / trademarks?)
- What is your product roadmap for the next 6-12 months?
Market / Market timing
- Why now?
- How big is this specific market?
- What is your unfair advantage?
- Who would you see as your key competitor at the moment? Why?
Customer Acquisition / Unit Economics / Go-To-Market
- Who is your customer persona?
- How much are people paying today? (range?)
- How are you currently getting users / customers? (what customer acq channel(s)?)
- How do you think you will get users / customers in the future?
- How much does it cost you currently to get a user? And in which channel?
- How much does your solution/product cost (COGs)?
- Why do people buy / use your solution?
- What is the sales cycle to-date?
- How does the product team interact with current and potential customers? If so, how and how often?
Competition
- What differentiates your solution from other alternatives?
- Who are you more afraid of: Google or another startup?
- What happens if a Google (or equiv) does this?
- Who are the major players?
- What is your moat?
Traction
- When did you start the company?
- How many customers do you have to-date?
- How much revenue have you generated to date?
- Any notable customers?
- What does retention or churn look like? (if you know)
- What does engagement look like?
- Any upsells?
- When will your company break even in terms of profitability and cash flow?
Fundraising / plans
- How much have you raised to date?
- How much are you looking to raise?
- Where are you in your round?
- What is your burn rate?
- What is your top priority for the next 3-6 months?
- What are your capital costs? (if capital intensive, like hardware / e-commerce)
- Have you secured a lead investor for the round? If so, who and how much is the lead investing?
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