Potential questions from investors (2024)

During your presentation to an investor, the investor will ask you a number of questions. Be prepared to answer these questions at any stage of the fundraising process:

Industry Analysis:

Competitive Advantage:

  • What value do you provide that is not already available to your customers?
  • What makes your company different?
  • How will you keep someone with a lot of money from taking over your market?

Marketing and Sales Strategy:

  • How will you establish brand-name recognition?
  • How do you intend to acquire market share?
  • How important is advertising?
  • How do you compete in terms of price, performance and support?

Business Strategy:

Financial Strategy:

  • What factors most affect your profitability?
  • What specifically would you use the money raised for?
  • How much more financing will you require beyond this round?

Team:

Product Development:

  • What is the lifecycle of the product?
  • What other products do you anticipate developing

Take notes on what the investor is focusing on and saying. Reply in a timely manner (less than one week) to the investor’s follow-up requests or questions that you could not answer at that time.

Potential questions from investors (2024)

FAQs

What type of questions do investors ask? ›

Industry Analysis:
  • How does your company fit into the industry?
  • How did you calculate the size of your market and its growth rate?
  • What are the major obstacles to your success?
  • What are the barriers to entry?
  • What is the profile of your end user?
  • What advantages do your competitors have?

What are the four basic investment questions a potential investor should answer before investing? ›

You are not ready to invest until you have carefully considered these basic questions, for which every informed investor should know the answers:
  • Do you have money to invest?
  • What are your investment goals?
  • How much risk are you comfortable with?

What are 5 questions you should ask when investing? ›

5 questions to ask before you invest
  • Am I comfortable with the level of risk? Can I afford to lose my money? ...
  • Do I understand the investment and could I get my money out easily? ...
  • Are my investments regulated? ...
  • Am I protected if the investment provider or my adviser goes out of business? ...
  • Should I get financial advice?

What questions does Shark Tank ask? ›

Top 5 Questions from 'Shark Tank' and How to Ace Them
  • What Are Your Sales? ...
  • What Is the Cost of Goods Sold and Your Profit Margin? ...
  • What Is Your Valuation and How Did You Arrive at It? ...
  • Who Is Your Target Market? ...
  • What Are Your Customer Acquisition Costs?
Dec 31, 2023

What an investor wants to hear? ›

Investors will want to see information that indicates the current financial status of the business. Usually, they will expect to see current reports such as a profit and loss statement, a balance sheet and a cash flow statement as well as projections for the next two or three years.

What are 7 questions to ask before you buy a stock? ›

Questions to answer before investing in a stock
  • What does the company do? ...
  • Is the company profitable? ...
  • What are its EPS and P/E? ...
  • Who are its competitors? ...
  • How does the company differentiate itself? ...
  • What are its plans for the future? ...
  • Does it give back to investors? ...
  • Are other investors bullish?
Feb 24, 2023

What is the 4 rule in investing? ›

The 4% rule limits annual withdrawals from your retirement accounts to 4% of the total balance in your first year of retirement. That means if you retire with $1 million saved, you'd take out $40,000. According to the rule, this amount is safe enough that you won't risk running out of money during a 30-year retirement.

What questions should I ask in investor relations? ›

General questions
  • Why are you leaving your current company?
  • Tell me about yourself .
  • How long do you plan to stay with this company?
  • What are you looking for in a new position?
  • How would your boss and coworkers describe you?
  • What are your career goals and what steps do you plan to take to achieve them?
Feb 12, 2024

What are four 4 very good tips for investing? ›

4 Tips for New Investors
  • Align your risk with your goals. What are you investing for and how are you going to achieve it? ...
  • Diversify. ...
  • Rebalance. ...
  • Watch out for leverage.

What questions to ask in dragons den? ›

The Dragons will want to know if there is enough demand for your product or service to make it profitable. Who is your competition? What makes your product better? Does your idea or product have the capacity for growth?

What are Shark Tank investors looking for? ›

The investors hosting Shark Tank typically require a stake in the business—or a percentage of ownership—and a share of the profits. A revenue valuation, which considers the prior year's sales and revenue and any sales in the pipeline, is often determined.

Who got the biggest offer in Shark Tank history $30 million? ›

It was the largest offer in Shark Tank history. Mark Cuban offered Arum Kang $30 million for her dating app Coffee Meets Bagel.

What do investors talk about? ›

So they're going to want to know exactly why you need the cash and exactly what you plan to do with it. They'll also want to know when they can expect a return; that should be a part of your business plan. Investors will also be looking for an exit strategy, and you need to think about that in advance.

How do you prepare for an investor interview? ›

As with an interview for any job, make sure you do plenty of research about the company before you go. See what they have done well in the last few years, along with focusing on the parts that they could improve on. Make sure you're aware of what their portfolio consists of and what kind of investments they focus on.

What does a VC want to hear? ›

VCs will want to know what milestones — particularly those related to growth and revenue — you will hit and when. If your startup has no immediate plan for revenue, say, because product development will take time, you should be ready to list other benchmarks you will achieve in lieu of revenue.

What questions are likely to be asked by investors reading your business plan? ›

Ideally, your main pitch should answer these core questions:
  • What problem (or want) are you solving?
  • What kinds of people, groups, or organizations have that problem? ...
  • How are you different?
  • Who will you compete with? ...
  • How will you make money?
  • How will you make money for your investors?
Oct 27, 2023

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