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Questions for VCs


When you raise money for your startup, you’ll typically have to answer lots of questions from venture capitalists. Questions like: “What’s your vision?” “How much revenue will you have in 36 months?” “What’s your TAM?” “Who else has invested?”

Sometimes, and this usually happens towards the end of the conversation, the VC will ask:

“Do you have any questions for me? 

Most people don’t take this question seriously, and the conversation ends. But this feels like a waste. Surely you have real questions… Right? By fundraising, you are selling a piece of your company and choosing someone who might be a long-term partner for your business. If you are good at your job, you could make this person very wealthy.

There are certainly questions that could be asked.

Below are things that we’d like to know about VCs. Pending your relationship with the VC, we do not recommend you directly ask them these questions. It would be funny, at least to us, if you did. But most VCs will likely respond poorly and not reveal much useful information. Bringing negative expectations into a conversation with investors (or anyone) can lead to bad results.

If you are an investor, it’d be neat to learn your answers to these.

    • Are you good at your job? How good? How do you know?
    • Do you think you have increased the likelihood of success of any of your portfolio companies? How?
    • Why do you think the extremely high agency founders you invested in could not have found that help elsewhere? What did you do that only you could figure out?
    • What companies did you try to invest in and the founder said no?
    • If tomorrow Apple decided they want to compete directly with you, and build an “Apple-quality” venture capital fund… How would you win? What is your moat?
    • How many funds did you apply to before getting this job? Was this your top choice? Why, and if not, what was?
    • If I interviewed the top 10% of founders in your portfolio, what would they say? If I interviewed the bottom 10% of founders in your portfolio, what would they say?
    • Who is the founder you admire most? Who is the person you admire most?
    • What is the most ambitious thing I could ask of you if you invested in my company?
    • What do you actually do all day? You wake up, what happens? Show me your screen time.
    • What is the purpose of a company’s board? Who do you think runs good board meetings? Why? Who do you think is a good board member? Why?
    • What do you think the other people on your team think of you? If I interviewed them about your performance and ability to pick deals, what do you think they would say?
    • Have you ever said no to a portfolio founder’s ask? What was it?
    • What did you do to prepare for this meeting? Walk me through the detailed steps.
    • What percentage of your LPs are involved in activities you find immoral or unethical? Why do you take their money?
    • What is the most ambitious company you have invested in?
    • Are you an honest person? Why do you think that? In the course of your work do you ever lie? How should I figure out if you are trustworthy?
    • Will the venture capital industry be around in ten years? Fifty? How will it change?
    • If I offered you $10 billion to invest out of your fund, would you say yes?
    • If I offered you $10 million to stop investing, would you say yes? 
    • What is your personal goal over the next ten years? Why? Why not bigger?
    • What is your investment process? Walk me through how you make decisions.


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