Venture Capital
Prepalyst has 20 early stage interview questions with model answers, covering founder assessment, market sizing from first principles and ownership maths. Every question is graded on technical accuracy, completeness and interview communication. Practice is free.
A foundational VC interview question that tests whether the candidate understands why an investor asks for follow-on rights.
What is a pro rata right in venture capital? Give a simple example of why an early investor may value it.
A practical screen for whether the candidate can turn a founder deck into an investment investigation.
You receive a 15-slide seed pitch deck. What are the five questions you need answered before deciding whether to take a first meeting?
Asked in early-stage investing interviews to test whether the candidate can place sparse traction in the right context.
Explain the difference between problem-solution fit and product-market fit. What evidence would you accept for each at seed stage?
Tests whether a junior investor can gather evidence rather than accidentally sell the founder's story back to a customer.
You are speaking with a potential customer of a startup that automates invoice processing. What would you ask to test whether the pain is real?
A first-round question testing whether a candidate understands the practical job of an early investor after writing a cheque.
A fund is considering leading a seed round. What does being the lead investor actually mean, and why might a founder care?
A first-round question testing whether a candidate understands why seed investing differs from buying public stocks.
A company has a prototype, three pilot customers and no meaningful revenue. What is a seed investor buying, and what is the investor not buying?
A core seed underwriting calculation that tests whether capital is connected to a de-risking plan.
A startup has $1.8m in cash, burns $150k per month, and plans to raise $3.0m. It expects monthly burn to rise to $250k after six months. Calculate the post-financing runway and explain what you would want the company to…
At seed stage there are no financials, so this is most of the decision.
At seed stage there's no revenue and no product-market fit. How do you assess a founding team?
The arithmetic every VC analyst is expected to do in their head.
A fund invests $5m for 20% of a company, and the round includes a 10% post-money option pool. What is the pre-money valuation, and who actually pays for the pool? Then: after two more rounds each diluting existing…
A cap-table exercise used to test whether an analyst can reconcile headline valuation, ownership and pre-money option-pool dilution.
Two founders own 8.0m shares. Before a priced seed round, the investor requires a 1.0m-share option pool to be created. The investor puts in $2.0m for 20% post-money ownership. Calculate the investor shares, each party's…
The instrument question in every seed conversation.
Explain a SAFE, a convertible note and a priced round. What are the risks of stacking SAFEs?
Tests whether a candidate can connect a single seed cheque to fund-level portfolio construction.
Your fund invests $1.0m for 10% ownership at seed. Why might it reserve capital for follow-ons, and when should it refuse to follow on?
Tests whether you understand what venture is actually optimising for.
A $200m seed fund makes 30 investments. How does it return 3x to its investors, and what does that imply about how you should evaluate any single deal?
A take-home style task for analysts supporting a seed investment committee memo.
You complete five customer calls. Two love the product, two say it is useful but non-essential, and one stopped using it after a month. How would you turn that into a recommendation rather than a list of quotes?
The question that decides whether early traction becomes a durable business.
A startup is growing fast but the product could be rebuilt in six months by a competent team. Is that a problem? How do you assess defensibility?
Tests offer-ready judgement on an emotionally difficult follow-on decision.
A seed portfolio company has 7 months of cash left. It missed its revenue plan, but retention among its best customer segment is 115% and it can raise a flat round only with existing investors participating. How would…
An offer-ready investment committee case: form a decision without pretending early evidence is conclusive.
A security startup has a former CISO founder, two enthusiastic design partners and a $30m pre-money seed valuation. One design partner will not pay until a key integration is built; a direct competitor just raised $25m.…
An investment-committee follow-up when a compelling seed company has little revenue history.
A developer-tools company has a strong technical founder, 12 active design partners, no paid revenue, and is raising at a $24m pre-money valuation. How would you decide whether that price is investable without pretending…
Every deck claims a large TAM; the analyst's job is to test it.
A founder claims a $50bn TAM. How do you test that, and why does market size matter so much in venture?
A final-round diligence judgement case: decide whether the reported traction supports a seed investment before signing a term sheet.
A B2B software startup reports $1.2m of ARR, up 150% year over year, and is raising a seed extension. You learn that one customer contributes 55% of ARR, all contracts contain 90-day termination rights, and 40% of…
Write your answer, get it graded on technical accuracy, completeness and communication, and see exactly which mechanic you missed.
Firm names indicate where a question type is commonly reported in interviews. They are not sourced from, endorsed by, or affiliated with the firms named.