What happens when they ask for a number?
Exact figures came in 54% of answers. Pitches that answered most number questions closed 72%; half or fewer, 53%.
Deal rate by how many number questions got a number
Correlation, not cause.
Investors asked for a number 1794 times: sales, costs, customers, margins. Founders gave an exact figure in 54% of those answers and an estimate in 30%. 10% were vague, and 6% gave no figure at all.
Over a whole pitch, it adds up. In the 145 pitches where founders answered most of the number questions with a number, 72% closed a deal. When they answered more than half but not most, 63% did. In the 15 pitches that answered half or fewer, 53% did.
This is a correlation, not a cause: founders who know their numbers usually run tighter companies. Still, an honest estimate of last year’s sales is far better than no number. Know your sales, costs, margin and customers before you walk in.
What was said
Founder
In our first year we sold 2,300,000 EGP, and in our second full year of operation we sold 6,100,000 EGP.
Shelter (شيلتر) · S2 E5 · 7:30 · Paraphrased
Founder
I started with a 10% customer retention rate in the first two years, and after we improved our quality, it increased to 60%.
Car Vezeeta (كار فيزيتا) · S5 E11 · 7:12 · Paraphrased
Founder
We paid 6.5 million EGP for the land, and the buildings, sheds, steelwork, paddocks and fittings on the farm cost 5 million EGP.
Ostrichland (أسترشلاند) · S3 E5 · 11:38 · Paraphrased