Venture Capital
Prepalyst has 21 growth stage interview questions with model answers, covering cohort economics, cac payback, net revenue retention and burn multiple. Every question is graded on technical accuracy, completeness and interview communication. Practice is free.
Tests whether a candidate can interrogate the metrics in a SaaS growth-company dashboard.
Define ARR, bookings and recognised revenue. A company reports strong bookings but weak revenue growth. What would you ask next?
Used to test whether a growth investor can separate headline growth from capital efficiency.
A company burned $18m of cash over the last twelve months and increased ARR from $30m to $42m. Calculate its burn multiple. What would you investigate before using it to make an investment decision?
A first-round growth-investing question on the quality of recurring revenue.
A SaaS company begins the year with $10m of ARR from existing customers, loses $1m to churn and contraction, and gains $2m of expansion. Calculate gross revenue retention and net revenue retention. Which is more…
A first-round growth-investing question on how a financing changes the company versus its existing shareholders.
What is the difference between primary and secondary capital in a growth-stage financing? When might you support a secondary sale?
A simple calculation that reveals whether the candidate knows how to use a common growth-company heuristic.
A software company is growing revenue 32% year over year and has a -14% EBITDA margin. What is its Rule of 40 score? Does it pass the test?
A common opening question for candidates moving from early-stage venture into growth investing.
How does a growth-stage investor underwrite a company differently from a seed or Series A investor?
Tests whether a candidate can distinguish true product-led expansion from a flattering customer story.
A company says it has a land-and-expand sales motion: customers start with a small team and later buy enterprise-wide licences. What evidence would you require before believing it?
A modelling-screen exercise testing whether a candidate can distinguish top-line growth from the economics produced by that growth.
A software company grows revenue from $24m to $36m while gross margin rises from 60% to 70%. Calculate prior-year gross profit, current-year gross profit, and the incremental gross profit. Why is this more useful than…
A practical diligence case for assessing whether a management plan is fundable.
Management forecasts ARR to grow from $20m to $40m next year. How would you test whether the forecast is credible?
A growth-investing case asks the analyst to decide whether management's pipeline and revenue dashboards can support an investment-committee forecast.
Management says it can add $18m of new ARR next year and provides a CRM export showing $54m of pipeline. Outline the workflow you would use to decide whether the pipeline supports the plan.
Growth investors frequently see concentration hidden inside impressive enterprise ARR growth.
A company has $25m of ARR and its largest customer contributes $7m. The customer has a two-year contract but can terminate for material service failures. How do you underwrite the risk?
Tests whether a candidate can connect company quality, public-market evidence and an underwriting return.
How would you value a growth-stage software company with $30m of ARR, 60% growth and 115% NRR?
An investment-committee exercise for testing whether the candidate can make a growth thesis falsifiable.
You are recommending a growth investment in a vertical-software company. What does a useful downside case look like, and how would it change your cheque size or terms?
A growth-stage venture investor diligencing a workflow-software Series B before partner meeting.
You are the associate on a proposed Series B investment in a workflow-software company. Review the staged data room, choose the highest-value diligence actions, and write an investment recommendation for the partner…
A partnership-level case that tests capital allocation discipline after an initial growth investment.
You own 8% of a portfolio company. It proposes a new round to fund international expansion, and you can invest pro rata to maintain ownership. How do you decide whether to follow on?
Growth equity and late-stage VC interviews centre on this analysis.
A SaaS company is growing revenue 80% year over year and burning $40m a year. What metrics do you need to know whether this is a good business, and what would make you pass?
Growth investors underwrite the go-to-market engine, not just the product.
A company spends $40m on sales and marketing and adds $25m of new ARR. Is that good? What else do you need to know?
The single most informative chart in growth-stage diligence.
A company shows you cohort retention curves. What are you looking for, and what would make you walk away?
Tests whether you understand that price and structure are substitutes.
A company last raised at a $1bn valuation. Metrics have deteriorated and comparable public companies have halved. The founder refuses a down round. What do you propose?
A late-round investing case tests whether the candidate sees how term-sheet economics change returns when the exit is below plan.
A new investor pays $25m for 25% of a company. In a $60m exit, compare its proceeds under (a) 1x non-participating preferred and (b) 1x participating preferred. What term and decision issues would you raise before…
A growth-stage diligence simulation where asking low-value questions consumes scarce meeting time.
A vertical-software company reports 125% net retention and asks for a $600m valuation. You have only three management questions and three customer-reference questions. Spend them on evidence that can change the decision.
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.