Venture Capital
27 venture investing questions of the kind asked in venture capital interviews. Each carries a model answer, the concepts a complete response must hit, and graded feedback on your own attempt.
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?
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?
A portfolio-support interview tests whether you can turn a broad company ambition into a small set of accountable operating objectives.
A seed-stage B2B software company says its quarterly goal is to "grow faster." How would you help the CEO turn that into useful objectives and key results without creating a reporting exercise?
Portfolio-team interviews test whether you can make a board meeting useful rather than merely reportable.
You are helping a Series A founder prepare the monthly board pack. What must it contain, and what should stay out?
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?
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 board-level portfolio case tests whether you can separate a capability gap from a difficult quarter before recommending a leadership change.
A Series B company's VP Sales has missed plan for two quarters. The CEO asks whether the board should push for a replacement before the next fundraise. How do you make the recommendation?
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?
Tests board judgement: being useful to management without becoming an operator by committee.
At a board meeting, the CEO presents a plan that misses cash targets but says cutting spend would damage growth. How do you respond?
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…
The workstream a VC analyst actually owns.
You have three weeks to diligence a Series B software company. What do you do?
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 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 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…
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?
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?
A board-level portfolio case involving founder incentives, governance and an unusually large secondary request.
A Series C company is raising $60m primary capital at a $500m pre-money valuation. The founder asks to sell $15m of personal shares in the same round. Growth is strong, but the company has missed two product deadlines.…
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?
Tests whether you understand that headline valuation and actual economics diverge.
A company raises $100m at a $1bn post-money with a 1x non-participating preference. It later sells for $400m. What do the investors and common holders receive? Then explain how the answer changes with a 2x participating…
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…
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?
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?
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?
Tests whether you know which terms are economic and which are control.
Beyond valuation, which term sheet provisions matter most? Separate the economic terms from the control terms.
The hardest recurring decision in venture, and a strong test of judgement.
A portfolio company is burning cash, growth has stalled, and the founder asks for a bridge. How do you decide?
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.