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Jul 6, 2022

The One Thing You Need to Be Ultra Prepared for Every VC Investor Question

The mere thought of pitch meetings can be nerve-wracking for many startup founders. The good news? VCs ask common questions. Here's how to prep.

BY
Keane Angle
Louise Saludo

Want to cut to the chase? The one thing you need is to rehearse how to answer the most common questions. Download our data-driven guide now.


The mere thought of pitch meetings can be nerve-wracking to many founders. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health cites that 75% of people say public speaking is their number one fear. Understandably, pitching answering questions on-the-fly can make anyone nervous.

No one wants to…

  • Look unprepared
  • Bore people to death
  • Forget talking points
  • Come across as untrustworthy
  • Or be humiliated

Lastly, no one wants to fail.

The truth is, “no” is the default answer in the world of fundraising

  • AirBnB was rejected by five out of seven investors; the other two ignored them completely
  • The Foundry Group had initially passed on Fitbit, only for them to offer an investment 8 months later
  • Bessemer Venture Partners even put together what they call the Anti-Portfolio— a collection of now successful companies they passed on investing in

To make matters worse, one bad meeting can make an impression on the entire investor community. If a startup has potential, investors share it with their colleagues. But if a pitch goes wrong, they share that too!

“Venture capital basically runs on gossip and FOMO. You try to get gossip on which companies are killing it, you try to get in, and then you try to create FOMO for everyone else. Rinse, repeat.”

– Magdalena Kala, VP of Consumer Investing at Bain Capital Private Equity

So, what's the one thing founders need to be ultra prepared for every VC question?

Here it is:

The Founder’s Cipher: The Ultimate Guide to Answering Any Investor Question Without Breaking a Sweat

The Founder’s Cipher is an in-depth guide to the most common investor questions and how to answer them.

We did the research so founders don’t have to.

  • 50+ page guide
  • 706 expert opinions
  • 135 top questions
  • 16 pitch deck categories

With The Founders Cipher, startup entrepreneurs and founders can...

  1. Ace every investor meeting with confidence. Learn the key insights behind top investor opinions to help guide the fundraising journey
  2. Prep for investor questions ahead of time. Study our aggregated investor questions before meetings to never be caught off-guard
  3. Answer every investor question expertly. ‍Deepen your understanding of investor behavior with data-based analysis of credible sources

Learn how to answer questions like:

  • How confident are you that the necessary team gaps will be filled when needed?
  • What key metrics are your team is focused on?
  • What have you learned from early versions of the product or service?
  • How do you compare against your competitors in service?
  • How can early traction be accelerated?
“I bought the Founder's Cipher two days ago and so I'm glad to have it in my toolkit to prepare for my upcoming investor meetings!”

– Zack Doherty, Founder @ TrueVote

Go into pitch meetings with confidence.

Download the Founder’s Cipher today

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