Which questions do founders fumble?
About a quarter of answers on market size and valuation were vague or missing; on company history, 6%.
Share of weak answers by question topic
The analysis graded 5271 answers. Here a weak answer is one that was vague, not given, sidestepped or an open “I don’t know”. Across all topics 14% of answers were weak.
Some topics are much harder. 24% of answers about market size were weak, and so were 24% of answers about valuation. Questions on the founder’s commitment (full time or not, other jobs) follow at 22%. Questions about the company’s history were the easiest: only 6% weak.
The chart lists the topics with enough answers to compare. Valuation answers often fell apart on “what is this number based on?”. Before you go in, write down how you reached your valuation and how you sized your market, in two or three sentences each.
What was said
Founder
As a startup, we always benchmark ourselves against peers in the ecosystem, so from our perspective, the valuation is fair.
Dajin (داجن) · S1 E1 · 3:17 · Paraphrased
Founder
My valuation is based on forecasting from the past year of operations.
EFICA (EFICA) · S1 E8 · 11:10 · Paraphrased
Founder
Honestly, I don't have accurate figures, so I can't state any numbers.
Breathe (Breathe) · S3 E20 · 17:53 · Paraphrased