Pitch and data-room guidelines
Investors ask the same questions in roughly the same order. These are those questions, with what a good answer looks like — so the first meeting is spent on your business rather than on the gaps.
Why these are worth an hour
Diligence rarely kills a deal outright. It kills deals by taking three weeks longer than it should, while enthusiasm decays and something else arrives on the investor's desk. Nearly all of that delay is a founder assembling documents that should already have existed — which means most of it is avoidable, and the cheapest time to avoid it is before you send the first deck.
Nothing here is about presentation. It is about having an answer, and knowing which answers you do not have yet.
What a pitch has to answer
The questions every investor asks, in the order they ask them — and what a good answer looks like when you have a number and when you do not.
18 questions12 must-havesv1.0What investors will ask you for
The data room, assembled before you need it: what goes in, what the common gaps are, and which ones quietly cost you the round.
17 questions10 must-havesv1.0
Send it to the right funds
The commonest reason for no reply is not the pitch — it is a fund that does not write at your stage or your cheque size. Most publish both. Our funder rankings let you filter by stage, region and type before you send anything.
Browse investorsRaise without announcing it
You can publish that you are raising on TrustList without publishing who you are. Investors see the sector, country and stage; your name reaches them only when you agree to an introduction.
How the board worksThese are general guidance, not legal or financial advice, and they do not replace your own advisers. Last reviewed on 19 September 2026. Tell us if something here is wrong or missing.