So, you’re trying to raise money. Here’s a guide for thinking about the kind of information you’ll need to craft a narrative about your company. Depending on your stage of growth, you may want to focus on different elements of this checklist. This is meant as a general guide, not a prescriptive template.
Problem/mission/vision
What’s the big vision?
Product
What does your product do today?
What is your value proposition?
What is your unfair advantage?
Market opportunity / size
What’s the opportunity?
What’s the market size?
Team
Tell us about the executive team
Why are you uniquely qualified to solve this problem?
Proof of product / market fit
Growth to date: sign-ups, weekly or monthly active users, paying customers (if relevant)
To the extent it’s relevant, do you have quantitative evidence that you’re better than competition/incumbents?
User engagement + retention
Engagement metrics for core product features
Monthly or weekly cohort retention (depending on the kind of product/company); churn (for subscription products)
Customer acquisition
What are your customer acquisition channels?
How much does customer acquisition cost (per channel)?
How will you make this money back and how long will it take?
How scalable are these? How big can you get with your existing product + customer acquisition channels? At what point do they get saturated or become too expensive, and what do you do if/when that happens?
Business model / monetization
Do you make money today?
How will you make money?
Competitive landscape
Do you have competitors? Who are they?
If no one else is doing this, why not?
What are others doing in adjacent spaces?
What’s next / fundraising ask
How much money are you raising?
Use of Proceeds: What will you do with the money you raise?
What are the milestones you will accomplish to get to the next phase of your business?
How does this tie into achieving your big vision?
Are there any gaps in your team you need to fill?
What are you looking for from an investor?
Learn more about how to pitch the way VCs think, and tell your company’s story with emotion.
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