Investor Pitch Readiness Checker
Assess your fundraising readiness across 10 critical areas. Rate each item to see your overall score and identify the gaps you need to close before meeting investors.
Rate each item: Yes (fully ready), Partial (in progress), No (not started)
Pitch deck ready
A polished 10-15 slide deck covering problem, solution, market, traction, team, and ask.
Financial model built
3-5 year projections with revenue, costs, and key assumptions documented.
TAM/SAM/SOM defined
Clear market sizing with bottom-up and top-down analysis.
Competitive differentiation clear
Can articulate why you win against alternatives in 30 seconds.
Have paying customers or strong validation
Revenue, LOIs, pilot results, or waitlist traction to show demand.
Unit economics understood
Know your CAC, LTV, payback period, and gross margin.
Product demo available
A working demo or walkthrough showing the core product experience.
Team bios and story prepared
Brief bios highlighting relevant experience and why this team wins.
Fundraise amount determined
Clear ask amount with use-of-funds breakdown and milestone targets.
Term sheet expectations set
Understand valuation range, deal structure, and investor expectations.
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Get a board-ready market research report with TAM/SAM/SOM, competitive landscape, and industry projections for just $15. Perfect for your pitch deck market slide.
Preparing for Investor Meetings
Raising money is a high-stakes process where preparation directly impacts outcomes. Investors make snap judgments — if you cannot clearly articulate your market, traction, and plan, they will pass. This checklist covers the fundamentals that every investor expects you to have nailed down.
The Must-Haves
A polished pitch deck, a working product or demo, some form of traction, and clear market sizing are non-negotiable. Without these, most investors will not take a meeting. Focus on these first before worrying about financial models or term sheet negotiations.
Knowing Your Numbers
Investors will test your financial literacy. Know your unit economics (CAC, LTV, margins), your burn rate and runway, your growth metrics, and your revenue projections. You do not need perfect numbers, but you need to demonstrate that you understand the economics of your business and can think rigorously about growth.
Practice, Practice, Practice
The best preparation is repetition. Practice your pitch with mentors, advisors, and friendly investors before approaching your target investors. Record yourself and watch the playback. Anticipate tough questions and prepare concise, honest answers. Confidence comes from preparation, not personality.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What do investors look for in a pitch?
- Investors evaluate: team (can they execute?), market (is it big enough?), product (does it solve a real problem?), traction (is there proof of demand?), business model (can it make money?), and financials (are projections realistic?). The pitch should tell a compelling story connecting all these elements with clear evidence at each step.
- How should I structure my pitch deck?
- The standard pitch deck structure: (1) Problem, (2) Solution, (3) Market size (TAM/SAM/SOM), (4) Product/demo, (5) Business model, (6) Traction, (7) Competitive landscape, (8) Team, (9) Financial projections, (10) The ask. Keep it under 15 slides. Each slide should make one clear point. Use visuals over text.
- How much should I raise?
- Raise enough to reach your next major milestone (usually 12-18 months of runway). Calculate: monthly burn rate × 18 months + buffer. Typical seed rounds are $1-3M, Series A is $5-15M. Your ask should be justified by a clear use-of-funds breakdown tied to specific milestones that de-risk the business.
- What is the most important part of a pitch?
- Traction. Nothing speaks louder than evidence of demand. Revenue, user growth, engagement metrics, pilot results, LOIs, or waitlist numbers all demonstrate that real people want what you are building. If you have strong traction, it compensates for weaknesses in other areas. Without it, everything else is theory.
- When am I ready to pitch investors?
- You are ready when you can confidently answer hard questions about your market, competition, unit economics, and growth plan. You should have some form of validation (customers, revenue, or strong demand signals). If you score above 80% on this readiness checker, you are in a strong position to start conversations.