The single purpose of a pitch is to get a meeting with the investor. That's it. Nothing else. And in that first investor meeting, your only job is to get another meeting. I know, weird huh, but it really is your only task -nothing else. Conversely the investor's job is to a) drill down into what intrigued her to meet you in the first place anb b) find an obvious reason to not invest in you. To do that, they use a Safety Check list. To help you prepare here's (some of) the the top 100 questions you're most likely to face.
This is not exhaustive, but a good start. If you need help with answering them, or give yourself the best possible chances of securing funding from a prestigious venture capital firm or investors, consider joining our Fundraising Bootcamp.
How big is the market opportunity?
TAM & SAM
What % market share do you target ? Why?
How long will this take?
How do you come up with these figures?
Who is your best customer? Profile him/her
Why is this the right time for this product or service?
What is your go to market strategy?
What is your go to market plan (execution plan)
How much user feedback have you received so far, how many users have you met personally?
What changes have you made based on that feedback?
How many actual users do you have?
How long do users stay on average?
How many actual sales have you made?
What is the monthly and annual growth rate?
Total rate of growth to date
What has held back your growth?
Can you provide a demonstration of the product or service now?
Who are the founders?
Who are key team members?
Any board members?
What key roles may need to be hired for soon?
What experience do you have in this industry?
Why are you the right person to bet on to achieve this?
What unique skills and talents does each owner contribute?
Name someone you chose not to include as a founder and why?
Who in this organization is most replaceable? Least replaceable?
Who are your competitors?
What are your strengths and advantages over your competitors?
What are your weaknesses or disadvantages?
What barriers to entry or scale are there for you?
Where is the competition letting down customers, and you have actual evidence of this?
Can you tell me a story about how a customer has decided to choose you and their experience with your product?
Why haven’t your competitors done this yet?
How do your features differ?
How do you compare on price?
How do you compare on service?
How do you compare on customer satisfaction?
What's the single biggest risk that worries you?
How do you make money?
Summarise your P&L, cashflow and balance sheet without using any slides.
Which specific marketing channels are you using?
Why are you using these marketing channels?
What is your plan B if these sales channels stop performing?
What profit margins are you operating on?
What impacts profit margins the most?
What pivots have you already made up until now?
What unique features are you working on?
What other streams of revenue can be added to this?
When do you expect you will be conducting a follow up round of fundraising?
How much is your pre-money valuation?
How are you determining current valuation?
How much are you trying to raise now?
How many previous investors will participate in this round?
What is the next milestone this money will take you to?
How else do you hope an investor will help beyond money?
Where is the company registered?
Company type and jurisdiction
Where are your headquarters?
How are shares split?
Is there an existing board or advisors?
Who handles accounting?
Who filed the company?
Who is the registered agent on record?
How will these funds be allocated?
How much will be spent on founders’ salaries?
How much will be spent on overhead versus revenue regeneration?
What if you don’t get all the money you are asking for?
What assets will be invested in with this capital?
What are your milestones?
What are the biggest risks to my investment?
Why are you choosing this method of raising capital?
How much of this money will be used for future fundraising efforts?
How much are your personal expenses each month?
how to pitch investors - how to get targeted investor lists - how much to raise - which investors first - what pre-money valuation?