Sprinkled during or concentrated after most fundraising presentations, there is a Q&A period. This is a critical aspect of successful fundraising – success or failure in getting to a follow-on meeting often rides on the answers to the questions and the way they are handled.
Let’s use a Q&A format to explore fundraising Q&A!
Q: If I have a choice, should I ask that all questions be held to the end of the presentation, or that questions can be asked at any time?
A: If the choice is yours, have Q&A after the presentation. The presentation is the time where you can be in complete control. How you unfold your story, the pace, the visuals, are all things that you have very carefully created and practiced. Questions can easily disrupt your delivery. For instance, say you have a slide that beautifully illustrates how your product works. You’ve practiced your delivery of that section. But if you’re asked “how does it work?” before that, you have to either jump ahead (skipping other slides that set up the “how it works” slide), or ask that the question be held, or give an off-the-cuff answer that takes some of the steam from the slide when you finally get to it.
However, if the format of the presentation calls for questions during the presentation, you’ll just have to roll with it.
Q: How do I prepare for Q&A?
A: Keep an on-going list of questions that might be asked, as well as questions that have been asked in the past. Prepare good answers to all the questions, and practice giving your answers. It never hurts to have a colleague grill you on the questions in a prep session.
Q: When should I use backup slides?
A: If you have a slide prepared that addresses the question you’re being asked, by all means use it. And if you don’t, consider preparing a slide on the topic to use the next time you’re asked. Even if you can answer off the top of your head, a prepared slide shows that you’ve thought about this in advance.
Q: What do I do if a person asks questions that seem to be trying to trip me up?
A: The most important thing is not to get flustered. You must keep your cool and your professionalism regardless of what happens. In fact, sometimes people may try to throw you off just to see how you handle it – remember they are trying to decide if you are an effective operator and leader, and this is an opportunity to show them you are.
Do your best to answer the question, whatever it is. Try to turn a negative into a positive. If the question is “You don’t really believe that customers will pay 30% more for your solution than for your competitors, do you?,” your response should be the factual reasons you do believe that, including your product benefits, initial sales and customer reactions, what experts in the field have said, etc.
Q: What if I get a question that I don’t know the answer to?
A: Don’t make something up. Sooner or later that strategy will backfire. You can respond by saying that you don’t know the answer to the question, but that you will find out and get back to the person.
After giving the above response, another tool you can use is to answer a similar question that you do know the answer to. Something like “I honestly don’t know if the alcohol content of our beverage meets the “alcohol-free” threshold in Russia, and I will check into that and get back to you. But I do know that it meets the threshold in Turkey and all the EU countries.”
Q: What kinds of questions should I expect?
A: The easy answer is – anything!
But usually, you can expect some questions about the problem or your solution, and your technology (if a technology-driven business). You might get questions on pricing/economics, competitors, exit strategy, and your growth plan.
But the area where you surely will get questions is on the fundraising itself. These questions may include:
- How much have you raised in the past?
- What was your valuation in the last round?
- What is the cap on your convertible note?
- Will you need another round and if so when?
- Who has invested in the past?
- Who is investing in this round?
- How will you use this funding?
Here are some actual questions asked at initial presentations:
- What’s the rate of false positive detection?
- Any thought to having your solution earlier in the process, before a report is written?
- How do you respond to critique that your company is being paid by vendors to validate their company?
- What is the primary barrier to business revenue generation?
- What is the role of health care provider information in this process? Aren’t most folks out of the market for insurance if they are over 50 and have a preexisting problem?
- Can you say a bit about your technical infrastructure?
- What’s the sales pipeline look like for Q3 with regard to PEO orgs and confidence in closing?
- How does the pricing compare to current bolt lock solutions?
- What is the cost compared to current solutions?
- What is the role of health care provider information in this process?
- What sort of clinical outcomes have you seen in your animal trials to date?
- How much does it cost to create each robot?
- Competition?
Q: If the question requires a long answer, how do I handle it?
A: This depends on the forum and the time. Generally, you want to give clear but concise answers to all questions. That way, you can fit in more questions and you personally appear efficient and prepared. You also have to keep track of the time you have. If you know you only have two minutes for all questions, your answers must be brief – but if you have 30 minutes you can more easily elaborate.
A compromise is to say that a complete answer to that question will take a lot of time and you’d be happy to fully answer that question in another forum when there is more time, but meantime you’ll give a brief answer.
It also depends on who is asking the question. If it comes from the most senior person in the room, you want to answer it more completely than if it comes from the most junior person in the room.
Q: I already fully answered the question in the presentation! What do I do?
A: You’re trying to sell something. The customer can ask the same question as many times as he or she likes! You should answer the question of course.
Q: I’ve been asked the same question the last three times I gave the pitch. . .
A: My rule of thumb is “three and in,” meaning that if you get the same question three different times, make the answer part of the presentation. There is an exception to that. You may intentionally leave out something that you know you will be asked about, something that puts the company in a great light. When it does get asked, you say “That’s a great question” and go into your answer. For instance, your product may be in the Apple ecosystem and you’ve had preliminary talks with Apple about working together. So when you get the obvious question “Have you talked to Apple about this?” You can launch into your answer (and if you never get asked the question, you can bring it up yourself at the end of the Q&A – “I forgot to mention that we just had a meeting with Apple. . . .” – but don’t disclose anything you’re obligated to keep secret). The reason for this is to give the impression that there is so much good news about the company it doesn’t all fit in to your presentation.
The other exception is that you have to fit into the time you have. If you’ve added three slides to a 10 minute presentation that is already at 10 minutes, you may just keep those slides in reserve for use during the Q&A.
Q: I just got through giving the presentation. Can’t I relax a little for the Q&A?
A: You can look relaxed, but you have to be at the top of your attention for the Q&A. This is where the audience feels they’re seeing the real you, not a scripted version. They want to see how you address questions, your thinking process, etc. This is no time to appear lax or as if you’re done for the day. Rather, it’s a time to further sell yourself as well as your company. And even when you are not speaking, your appearance and attitude speak volumes.
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