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1. So whats your business all about?

2. What is your business model and revenue model?
3. What is the market potential for your company's product or service? What is the revenue
potential for the industry, and what is its growth rate?
4. How did you calculate market potential? How do you determine industry sales and growth
rate?
5. What makes your business different or unique?
6. Why would someone be compelled to purchase your product or service? What specific
needs does it address?
7. How do you know that your business has high-growth potential?
8. What is it about your management team that makes them uniquely capable of executing on
this business plan?
9. What is the primary risks facing this opportunity?
10. Who are your competitors?
11. What gives your company a competitive advantage?
12. Whats the barrier to entry for competition?
13. Whats going to stop big monster company in your space from copying you?
14. Does the company have proprietary intellectual property (IP) in the form of patents,
trademarks, copyrights? If yes, who owns the IP?
15. What licensing arrangements (if applicable) have been made between you and the company
that owns the IP? Does anyone else have licensing arrangement? If so, how does this
impact your company?
16. When will your company break even in terms of profitability and cash flow (if applicable)?
17. How do you plan to acquire customers?
18. How do you plan to keep customers?
19. Do you have any customers? Have you spoken to potential customers?
20. How large is the customer base? Are they retail customer or institutional one?
21. What is the lag time between initial buyer contact and the actual sale?
22. What drives customer satisfaction for this industry and for the product? And, how do you
know?
23. What industry changes most affect your company's profits?
24. What are the seasonal effects in your industry?
25. Where do you see bottlenecks developing in your business?
26. What is the current backlog?
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27. Have you executed your business plan during the last 2-3 months as originally envisaged?
28. How many employees do you have? What is the anticipated need in the immediate future?
29. Where does the labour supply come from? What is the cost of training?
30. How can you control your cost? Have you thought of any alternate business model?
31. Why will this business succeed?
32. How do advances / obsolescence in technology affect your product and business?
33. What is the current research and development?
34. What is the annual expenditure on R&D?
35. How does R&D impact future sales?
36. Do you lease or own the equipment/property/facilities? What are the terms of your lease?
37. How much do you owe on the mortgage (If any)? What are the various types of mortgages
that you have placed with banks?
38. Have you incorporated your company? Is it a private limited company?
39. Are there repeat uses for the product or service?
40. What alliances or partnerships have you entered (e.g. joint ventures, marketing alliances,
licensing arrangements, selling/distribution agreements, channel partnerships, software
agreements, etc.)?
41. Whats your marketing strategy?
42. How will your marketing strategy change as the product/service/industry matures?
43. How important is advertising in your marketing plan? Which all medium you will advertise
on?
44. How are you handling the technological infrastructure for scaling?
45. If you plan to take/increase market share, how will you do it?
46. What is the anticipated lifecycle of your product or service offering? What are your current
and future plans for R&D investment?
47. What is your academic background? Which degree / specialization / college / year?
48. What is your professional / industry experience and background?
49. Whats the team look like? What type of business experience does the key management
team members have?
50. Can the team accomplish the job outlined in the business plan? What motivates each team
member? Are the members achievers?
51. How do you plan to expand your labour force?
52. What are the probable exit scenarios for us (the investors)? What will the exit look like?
53. What do you expect your role will be at the time of our exit?
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54. How much will you pay yourself and your senior staff? Dont you think your salary is on a
higher side?
55. What is your Plan B?
56. If you fail, what will cause your demise?
57. What is the planned use of proceeds (fund raised)? Why are you raising the money you want
to raise? How far does that money get you?
58. What is your expectation on valuation?
59. Is your business scalable? If yes, why do you think so? How much you can scale it in next 2-
3 years?
60. What are the key assumptions of your financial projections?
61. What are the key details of loans taken (if any) in the business (principal outstanding,
interest rate, payment period, monthly EMI etc.)?
62. What is the exact role and responsibility of promoters in the company?
63. Are you in discussion with any other VC? Have you received Term Sheet from any investor?
64. Would you require subsequent round of funding? When would you require that?
65. Have you made financial projections? Could you share that with us?
66. What are the weaknesses of your company and threats to it?
67. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the promoter?
68. Is this the first venture of the promoter?
69. Why did you leave your first venture? Can I infer that you did it because your first venture
could not grow much?
70. How can I be sure that you will not leave this venture and start a third one?
71. What is the maximum stake of your company that you can offer to us?
72. Are you ready to give us a board seat?
73. Is there any existing investor in your company? What is the valuation at which that investor
had come in?
74. How much money promoters have already invested in the company? Can you list down
various activities where you had deployed your money and also how much money was
deployed in individual activities?
75. How much time the promoter spends on his business in 24 hours and on what kind of
activities?
76. Has the company started making revenues? If yes, how much per month basis? What are
the major expense items? Is the bottom-line positive presently?
77. How many service contracts (P.O.) have you signed so far? Who are these customers?
What is the sum total value of these POs?
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78. Which client reference you can give us?
79. Do you really think that Indian/Global market is mature enough for your product/service
offering?
80. A model (cashback) which is globally proven need not necessarily work in India. What is
your comment?
81. How will you scale up corporate revenues after 3-4 years?
82. Why havent you projected the financials beyond FY16-17? Was it really so hazy / uncertain
to predict?
83. Do you have any regulatory risks?
84. Can you also plan to expand your operations in other countries? If yes, how? What are your
broad plans?
85. How many clients you have presently?
86. When would you require additional funds and for what reasons?
87. If you dont get funding, what do you think you will lose and how will it affect your growth?
88. What is the horizon (in terms of no. of years) you are willing to give us in terms of staying
invested in your company?
89. What kind of investor do you prefer? What do you expect from us? Do you have any
question to ask us?