The

Ultimate Investor Checklist for Entrepreneurs

The Ultimate Investor

Checklist for
Entrepreneurs
Investors ask a whole lot of questions before putting their faith and money
into a startup. If you are an entrepreneur seeking funding, it is imperative
that you have the answers at your fingertips to convince them that you know
what you are doing and are serious about the business.

StartupFundingSummit is proud to publish this extensive list of frequently
asked questions from investors, compiled by Bala Satish, Co-Founder of
MyDreamStore, which is guaranteed to help you prepare a solid and
convincing pitch.






Compiled by Bala Satish, Co-founder, MyDreamStore
@satish_dreamer



© Bala Satish │ Published by Startup Funding Summit
Join Startup Funding Summit Today

A STARTUP FUNDING SUMMIT E-BOOK


The Ultimate Investor Checklist for Entrepreneurs

Problem Statement
! What is the problem you are trying to solve with your service / product?
! Is the market ready for this kind of service/product?

Market Size (Is the Market Big Enough?)
! What is the market size?
! What do your market segmentation charts look like?
! What is the customer segment you are targeting?

Competition
! What is the competitive landscape like?
! What is your unique selling proposition?
! Are you the first/early mover?
! Why is nobody else doing what you are doing?
! If it is a ‘me-too’ model, what is your moat? (Do you have patents or any other killer advantage?)
○ What if somebody else comes into the market with more funds?
○ Can someone easily replicate your model?
! What kind of brand building activities have you planned?
! What is your customer acquisition strategy?
! What is your customer retention strategy?

Business Model
! Who are your paying customers?
! What is your revenue model?
! Are there any risks in the model?
! What is the unit economics like?
! What is the cost of customer acquisition?
! What is the customer lifetime value?

Product/Service Description
! Where is your MVP?
! What do your customers say about your product/service?
! How many similar consumers do you expect to bring in?
! Is there any wastage/refund/return involved?
! How do you ensure the quality of your service levels?

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The Ultimate Investor Checklist for Entrepreneurs

Scalability
! Is your solution scalable?
! What are the bottlenecks to scale?
o Manpower
o Infrastructure
o Setup/Hardware costs
o Other industry bottlenecks / regulatory
! What is stopping you from scaling right now?

Requirement of funds
! What amount of funding do you need?
! How are you going to deploy your funds?
! When are you going to break even?
! When are you going to be cashflow positive?

Financial Condition/Revenues
! What are the set up/ fixed costs?
! Do you have an asset-light business model? If so why/if not, why not?
! What are the non-performing assets (NPAs) on your balance sheet?
! What amount of cash do you have in the bank?
! What is the current burn rate?
! How many months do you have before you run out of cash?
! What are the milestones for this funding?
! What is the projected burn rate post funding?
! How do you plan to split the funds across operating cost/marketing/technology?
! How long do you think this money you are planning to raise will last?

Funding Details
! What is your proposed pre-money valuation?
! How much equity are you willing to dilute?
! What is your proposed exit strategy?

Team Composition
! Describe the skill set and background of founders and core members.
! How do the founders know each other / how long they have been together?
! What aspect of the business is each founder responsible for?
! What is your team composition?
! Who is the CEO? / Whose decision is final in case of non-resolvable issues?
! Do you have domain expertise?
! Is your business people-dependant?
! Do you have ESOPs for your employees? If yes, then what is the structure?

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The Ultimate Investor Checklist for Entrepreneurs

Technology Details
! Who takes care of technology? Mention team details.
! How scalable is your platform?
! Is your platform stable?
○ How many concurrent users can it handle at present?
! Is the platform mobile-responsive?
! What is your technology stack?
! Where do you host right now?
! What is your mobile strategy?
! Will users be interested in installing such an app?
! What is your marketing plan for app-installs?
! What are your projections on app installs?
! Do you have a product mock-up? If yes, then can you share details about it?

Behavioural Questions
! What is your mission?
! Why are you excited to do this?

Details on Key Metrics
! Users
! Returning users
! Bounce rate
! Transactions
! Ticket size (Transaction value)
! Revenue run rate
! Gross profit
! Current burn rate
! Cohort analysis
! Customer acquisition cost
! Customer lifetime value
! Conversion rate
! Click through rates in advertising
! Testimonials

Term Sheet Details
! Internal rate of return
! Right to first refusal/Right to first offer
! Tag-along/Drag-along rights
! Liquidation preferences
All the best with your fund-raising efforts!

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