Investor question bank: the follow-ups to the six questions investors test

Runway: how many months does this raise really buy?

The first check is division: cash over monthly burn. The follow-ups test where the burn comes from and what happens when the plan slips.

Hearthfold: 23 months on the $3.5M seed, to Dec 2028 with no Series A.

1. Is that runway read from your monthly cash, or from one average burn figure?

   Have ready: the first month your model's cash falls below zero, and the burn that gets it there.

   Worked answer: Runway, seed deck guide

2. What is your net burn today, and what will it be once the team is hired?

   Have ready: both figures from the cash flow statement, and the month burn peaks.

   Worked answer: Cash flow, startup model guide

3. How much cash is left at the lowest point?

   Have ready: the lowest month-end cash in the plan, and the month it falls in.

   Worked answer: Runway, seed deck guide

4. What happens if the next round closes late?

   Have ready: the month cash runs out with no new money, and the months between your milestone and that date.

   Worked answer: Cash flow, startup model guide

5. If you charge less, how many months do you lose?

   Have ready: the cash-out month at a lower price, from a rerun of the model.

   Worked answer: Price sensitivity, startup model guide

Revenue drivers: is growth built from customers and price, or typed in?

An investor won't argue with a revenue total. The follow-ups go to what produces it.

Hearthfold: $12 per caregiver a month, plus $8 per filled shift.

1. Where does next year's customer count come from?

   Have ready: customers won from a sales plan you can explain, less the customers you lose, never a growth rate.

   Worked answer: Revenue drivers, seed deck guide

2. What does one customer pay a month, and does that change?

   Have ready: price per unit, the usage behind it, and any planned price rise with its month.

   Worked answer: Revenue drivers, seed deck guide

3. Can you show me the formula behind revenue?

   Have ready: customers × price × usage on one row, with every input on the assumptions tab.

   Worked answer: Revenue build, startup model guide

4. Which assumption moves revenue the most?

   Have ready: a rerun of the model at a lower and a higher value of that input, and the effect on cash.

   Worked answer: Price sensitivity, startup model guide

5. Is revenue counted when you bill it or when you are paid?

   Have ready: revenue when earned, cash when collected, and the receivables in between.

   Worked answer: Cash flow, startup model guide

Unit economics: what does a customer cost, and when does it pay back?

Two numbers answer the first question: the cost to win a customer and the months to repay it. The follow-ups test how each was worked.

Hearthfold: $11,292 to win an agency, paid back in 8.2 months.

1. What does it cost to win one customer, and from which year's spend?

   Have ready: one year's sales and marketing divided by the customers won that year, with the year named.

   Worked answer: Unit economics, seed deck guide

2. Is payback worked on revenue or on gross profit?

   Have ready: monthly gross profit per customer, after the cost of serving them.

   Worked answer: Unit economics, seed deck guide

3. Does that cost rise or fall as you grow?

   Have ready: the cost for each year of the plan, and the reason for its direction.

   Worked answer: Unit economics, seed deck guide

4. Does your deck quote the same gross margin as your model?

   Have ready: one margin for one period, the same on the slide and in the cell.

   Worked answer: Income statement, startup model guide

5. What happens to the plan if a customer costs more to win?

   Have ready: a rerun of the model at the higher cost, and whether cash still reaches the milestone.

   Worked answer: Price sensitivity, startup model guide

Headcount: do your planned hires appear in your costs?

The team slide and the cost line are often written weeks apart. The follow-ups check that they describe one plan.

Hearthfold: 16 funded hires take the team from 6 to 22 people.

1. When does each hire start, and is that month in the model?

   Have ready: a hiring plan by role and start month that the cost lines read from.

   Worked answer: Headcount, seed deck guide

2. What does each person cost once taxes and benefits are added?

   Have ready: salary plus on-costs for each role, as a monthly figure.

   Worked answer: Costs from headcount up, startup model guide

3. Do people × salary fit inside your operating costs?

   Have ready: that multiplication for one year, next to the same year's operating costs.

   Worked answer: Headcount, seed deck guide

4. Whose pay sits in cost of revenue, not operating costs?

   Have ready: the roles that serve customers directly, and where the model puts their pay.

   Worked answer: Headcount, seed deck guide

5. Does the team slide match the people in the model at year end?

   Have ready: the headcount on the slide and in the model for the same month.

   Worked answer: Headcount, seed deck guide

Use of funds: does the money reach next-round milestones?

The money matters less than what it buys. The follow-ups ask for the milestone as a number, and the cash left when you reach it.

Hearthfold: 40% to product and engineering, 33% to sales and marketing, to reach $3.0M ARR and 150 agencies.

1. What milestone does this round reach, as a number?

   Have ready: the metric the next round will be judged on, the target and the month you reach it.

   Worked answer: Use of funds, seed deck guide

2. How much cash is left when you get there?

   Have ready: month-end cash in the milestone month, from the model.

   Worked answer: Use of funds, seed deck guide

3. How does the raise split, and do the lines add up to it?

   Have ready: three to five lines, each naming what it buys, that add up to the amount.

   Worked answer: Use of funds, seed deck guide

4. Why this amount?

   Have ready: monthly burn × the months to your milestone, and the margin left after it.

   Worked answer: Cash flow, startup model guide

Tie-out: do your three statements agree?

The last check is whether the three statements describe one company. The follow-ups test the model itself, not only the slide.

Hearthfold: P&L, balance sheet and cash flow reconcile in all 60 months.

1. Does your balance sheet balance in every period?

   Have ready: a balance check row that reads 0.00 in every period.

   Worked answer: Balance sheet and the check, startup model guide

2. If I change your price, does the model still balance?

   Have ready: a model with no typed-over cells, checked at more than one price.

   Worked answer: The typed-over cell, startup model guide

3. Is every input on one tab?

   Have ready: one assumptions tab, and statements that hold only formulas.

   Worked answer: The assumptions tab, startup model guide

4. Does every number in the deck match a cell in the model?

   Have ready: a list of the deck's numbers, each with the cell it comes from.

   Worked answer: Tie-out, seed deck guide

5. Can I see the model itself?

   Have ready: a view-only link to the live spreadsheet, with formulas intact.

   Worked answer: The files to keep, startup model guide

Have the six asked of your deck

Rehearsing the answers helps. A second reader who has never seen your deck finds the questions you did not expect.