Most rounds do not die on the idea. They die on a question the founder had not rehearsed. These are the twelve that come up most, what a partner is actually testing with each, and how to answer it in the deck itself.
1. What problem are you solving, and for whom exactly?
What they're testing
Whether you have a specific customer or a demographic.
Fix it like this
Name one buyer, their role, and what they do today instead of using you.
2. Why now?
What they're testing
Whether something changed in the world that makes this possible or urgent.
Fix it like this
Point to a concrete shift  a cost curve, a regulation, a behaviour  dated.
3. How big is this really?
What they're testing
Whether your market number is built bottom-up or copied from a report.
Fix it like this
Show units × price × reachable accounts. Never lead with a trillion-dollar TAM.
4. What have you actually shipped?
What they're testing
Whether the product exists or is a roadmap in disguise.
Fix it like this
Show what is live today, and separate it visually from what is planned.
5. What does traction mean in your business?
What they're testing
Whether you picked the metric that flatters you.
Fix it like this
Lead with the metric your board would hold you to, even when it is smaller.
6. Where do customers come from, and what do they cost?
What they're testing
Whether you have a channel or a pile of favours.
Fix it like this
One channel, its CAC, and whether it has held as spend increased.
7. Do they stay?
What they're testing
Retention  the number most decks omit deliberately.
Fix it like this
A cohort chart. Flat-tailing retention beats a big top-line number.
8. How do you make money, and does the unit work?
What they're testing
Whether gross margin survives contact with delivery cost.
Fix it like this
Price, cost to serve, and margin per unit. Include inference or COGS honestly.
9. What stops someone else doing this?
What they're testing
Whether your moat is a moat or a feature.
Fix it like this
Name the compounding asset  data, switching cost, distribution. Not "our team".
10. Who else is in this space, and why do you win?
What they're testing
Whether you know your market. Saying "no competitors" ends meetings.
Fix it like this
Name the real alternatives, including the spreadsheet, and be specific about the trade.
11. Why this team?
What they're testing
Whether your background is a reason to bet, or just a logo.
Fix it like this
Tie each founder to the specific risk they retire.
12. What does this round buy, and what will be true after it?
What they're testing
Whether you are raising to a plan or to a number.
Fix it like this
Name the milestone the round funds and the metric that proves it.
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