Company Overview
What does the company do? Why is this a compelling opportunity?
What is your hypothesis of the future, and how does this opportunity fit within it?
Mission / Vision
Why was the company formed?
What was the pain point being addressed?
Where did this pain point originate from?
Customer
Target Market / Customer
Who is the company selling to?
What types of firms?
Who within the organization specifically?
Does this person have authority to guide purchase decisions?
Problem / Need
What problem is being addressed?
How severe is this problem?
How has the problem been validated?
Product
Product & Wedge
Describe the product in detail.
How does this address the problem stated above?
Defensibility
What is defensible?
What is not defensible?
What has to happen in order for defensibility to become real?
Go-To-Market
What is the GTM strategy?
How feasible is it?
What all has to happen in order for this product to become adopted?
Monetization
How does the company plan to make money over time?
What is the pricing model?
Is the pricing model tiered?
How are different tiers categorized?
Market
Why Now / Macro Trends
What trends support the adoption of this type of technology?
What have been the outcomes of previous teams that have tried to do this in the past?
If they failed, why did they fail?
Market Size
Clearly define the market.
Does a market exist or does it need to be created?
Is this an expanding or contracting market opportunity?
Quantify the total size of the opportunity then work backwards to estimate what percentage of the total market is obtainable.
Competition
Who is the direct and indirect competition?
Who are potential competitors?
How aware are the founding team of their competition?
This should never be left blank.
Advantage
Why is this company better than the rest of the field?
What is their unique advantage?
How sustainable is this advantage?
Traction
Product
What has been built and shipped?
What is still in production?
What is the product roadmap and timeline?
Metrics
The more data points, the better.
What quantitative metrics are being tracked?
What progress has been made so far?
Team
Founding Team
Who is the founding team?
What are their backgrounds?
How did they meet?
Core Team
Who else is on the core team?
What are their different roles?
What are their backgrounds?
Why did they leave their previous roles to join this company?
Perspectives
What is truly unique about the team?
Why are they better than other teams you have passed on?
What are their collective insights towards the problem they are solving?
Core Traits
Notes:
Fundraise
Round Dynamics
What are the proposed terms for the fundraise (amount seeking, pre/post-money valuation if priced, valuation cap/discount/interest if convertible)?
What are the uses of funds?
How long will this extend runway?
How much has been committed towards the round?
Who has committed to the round?
Did previous investors follow on?
Roadmap & Milestones
What are the business and product milestones?
How will this fundraise yield these milestones?
What is the hiring plan?
Waterfall Analysis
Decision Check
Basic Questions
Notes:
Key Risks
- What are the risks you need to get comfortable with if you are to invest into this opportunity?
- Do the risks justify the upside rewards?
Pitch Notes
What did you like/dislike?
What did the partners think of the opportunity at first glance?
What are concerns coming out of the meeting?
Can answers to these concerns lead to a "yes" from the partners, or are there any dealbreakers?
References
Enter notes from all reference checks. This should usually be the last stage of diligence.