Interviewing to be your VC investor
VCs are pretty tough to fire once you’ve hired them!
I recently offered to invest in two co-founders.
Before agreeing a deal they rightly wanted to put me through my paces. They’re both first time founders but instinctively knew the relationship we were building was going to be important.
Maybe they’d also read my previous posts on:
I was impressed when they decided to treat the final stages of our discussion like an interview process. I’d already had several weeks of doing my homework on them — and had decided to make an investment as a result. Now it was their turn. I was formally interviewing for the role of board member and investor in their company.
As part of sending them our term sheet I also shared written answers to their questions. With their agreement I’ve posted the questions below for the benefit of others.
Different questions will be important to different founders but the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of their approach, delivered in the right way and at the right time, was excellent.
Questions…
Relevant experience
- Which companies have you invested in that are similar to [Company], and in what way?
- What did you learn from those investments?
- How did you add to their success?
Strategy
- What are the most important short-term goals for [Company]?
- What is the most important medium — long term goal for [Company]?
- How will you help [Company] achieve these goals?
Networks
How can your existing networks be leveraged by [Company]?
- Distribution / Sales
- Hiring
- Commercial
- Tech & product
- Fund raising for next round & corporate exits
Yours and your firms USPs
- Why do you think [Company] should work with you and your firm as opposed to other VCs?
Style
- How do you see yourself working with [Company]?
- What do you want to get out of it?
- What are your personal medium — long term goals?
