Fundraising can be an incredibly illuminating growth experience for founders. Having helped founders raise capital at the early and early-growth stages of their companies— Pre-seed to Series C— we have had the opportunity to dive deep into many facets of their businesses. More importantly, we have had the opportunity to partner with truly visionary founders to:
Investigate and understand their business with an open-mind— what they are building, why it matters, and why the time to build is now.
Communicate what their business truly is— something that is implicitly clear to the founder (and founding team) but not necessarily clear to anyone else.
Truthfully position their company as a good investment opportunity— we help structure their presentation in the best light possible so that investors can get to conviction— yes, no, not now— with confidence.
The following 30 questions are designed to help you present your company in words— a story that helps other stakeholders see what you see. The questions are designed in a specific sequence to help you achieve this. Each question builds on the questions preceding it. We recommend following them in sequence unless you really can't help it.
What assumptions about the market underpin your opportunity?
What negative biases do investors have about your industry and its constituents?
Given the negative bias investors might have— why should they keep an open mind?
Is the current product a wedge or beach-head into a much larger opportunity? If yes, why is your current focus an advantageous and efficient path to the larger opportunity?
What is the market size for your wedge or beach-head?
What is the market size for the larger opportunity?
Who are the key stakeholders— internal and external— to your business? E.g., customers, partners, regulatory bodies, talent pools, etc.
How do the key stakeholders transact/interact with one another? (How does money flow in your stakeholder ecosystem?)
How does your business' success positively benefit those stakeholders?
How, if any, does your business' success harm those stakeholders?
Why do customers currently pay you? And why will they continue to pay you?
If customers don't currently pay you— why not? And, if you aren't charging them, why not?
Why is your current leadership team a match for the opportunity you are securing?
What' hard things' have you and the team solved? And, which of those 'hard things' do others avoid even solving?
What metrics (numerical and qualitative) matter for your business, and why?
How have you tracked against those metrics historically?
What trends in your company's performance have you observed over time? And, how do you explain those trends in terms of cause and effect?
Who are your incumbents, and why?
Which company in the market scares you the most, and why? If no company scares you, why not?
What are the core differentiators for your business?
Of those differentiators, which one(s) provide you the competitive edge against notary incumbents?
If a competitor were to win against you— what would they have to do?
What moats does your business currently have?
How does your current strategy help build even greater moats over time?
Where are the single points of failure in your business, if any? And, how are you building redundancies into those areas?
What would additional capital allow you to do right now?
How will you deploy the new investment capital, specifically?
What is the opportunity cost to your business of raising later versus now?
Why should an investor invest in your business now versus later? And, if they were to invest at a later round— 6 or 12 months from now— what premium would they likely pay?
Who would potentially want to acquire your business? Why?
Aside from capital, what value-add do you expect from the right investor?