Business Strategy Questions

Make it a routine to practice asking more insightful questions.

How are you going to create, distribute and exchange value?

First Principles

Problem

• What problem are you solving?
• Why is it important to you to solve this problem?

Purpose

• Where are you going do?
• How are you going to deliver value?
• What long-range benefits are you going to create?

Process

• What Intellectual Property do you need to develop?
• What is the first step improvement you can make?

Platform

• Strategy to leverage latest technology?
• What is your business suite?
• What is your tech stack?

People

Customers

• Have you identified your ideal customer? Understand what they desire? What their triggers are?
• Does your idea have a natural sales appeal?
• Customer value, Can customers afford it? Will they buy it? Is there a timing factor?
• What resistance or difficulties to overcome to make sales?
• Is the market ready for it?

Partners

• Who can help you expand into markets?
• What suppliers do you need?
• Have you locked in supply contracts?

Professionals

• What professional services do you need?
• Who can fill those roles?

Team

• Culture fit?
• Who do you want to work with?

Planning

• Have you closed standard business process gaps?
• Have you closed key operations process gaps?
• How are you going to deliver?
• How complex will it be to execute strategy effectively?

Marketing

• Is there a clear and obvious need or do customers need education?
• What is the competition doing in this area?

Profit

• How much money do you need to get started?
• When will you need a cash injection?
• How soon before you are making money?
• How many revenue streams?
• What risks could change your revenue streams?
• How confident are you in your predictions?
• How do you intend to reinvest profits?

Decisions

• What decisions do you need to make at the moment?
• What metrics do you need to make good decisions?
• What needs to be decided in the next six weeks?
• What needs to be decided in the future?

Review Questions

• Have you considered all the benefits?
• Have you considered all the risks?
• What variations of this idea might be possible?
• How strong is demand?
• How strong is your appetite for it?

Growth

• How can we maximise profits over the long term?
• Are we missing a potential revenue stream?
• What needs to be prioritised?
• How can we recruit talent most efficiently?
• Time to consolidate or expand?

Business Market

• How big is the market opportunity?
• What percentage of the market share do you hope to get?
• Who exactly is your best customer?
• How long will this take?
• How do you come up with these figures?
• What is your PR strategy?
• Who do you most aspire to be like?
• Who do you least want to be like?
• Why is this the right time for this product or service?
• What is your marketing strategy?

Traction

• How much feedback have you received so far?
• What changes have you made based on that feedback?
• How many actual users do you have?
• How long do users stay on average?
• How many actual sales have you made?
• What is the annual growth rate?
• Total rate of growth?
• Has growth been linear and consistent?
• What has held back your growth?
• Can you provide a demonstration of the product or service now?

Team

• Where are your headquarters?
• Who are the founders?
• Who are key team members?
• Any existing board members?
• What key roles may need to be hired for soon?
• What experience do you have in this industry?
• Why are you the right person to bet on to achieve this?
• What motivates you?
• Are any of the founders willing to be bought out now?
• Are there any other people who may claim they are owed or responsible for your ideas?

Competition

• Who are your competitors?
• What are your strengths and advantages over your competitors?
• What are your weaknesses or disadvantages?
• What barriers to entry or scale are there for you?
• Where is the competition letting down customers?
• Why haven’t your competitors done this yet?
• How do your features differ?
• How do you compare on price?
• How do you compare on service?
• How do you compare on customer satisfaction?

Financials

• How are you marketing your product or services?
• How much is your marketing budget?
• What are your per customer acquisition costs?
• How much is your customer lifetime value?
• How much equity and debt has been raised in the past?
• Who participated in earlier rounds of fundraising?
• What is your burn rate?
• How long will it take to become profitable?
• What are the key metrics your team is focused on?
• What stock options have been given already? What is the distribution of equity between founders?

Intellectual Property

• What is unique about the company?
• What big problem does it solve?
• What legal risks do you see?
• Are you aware of any product liability risks?
• What regulatory risks could impact this business?
• What intellectual property do you own?
• Who developed any intellectual property owned?
• Have any employees or partners have left who may challenge these rights?
• Are there any additional patents pending or planned?
• How are any current intellectual assets owned?

Use of Funds

• How will these funds be allocated?
• How much will be spent on founders' salaries?
• How much will be spent on overhead versus expansion?
• What if you don’t get all the money you are asking for?
• What assets will be invested in with this capital?
• What are your milestones?
• What are the biggest risks to my investment?
• Why are you choosing this method of raising capital?
• How much of this money will be used for future fundraising efforts?
• How much are your personal expenses each month?

Business Model

• Which specific marketing channels are you using?
• Why are you using these marketing channels?
• What is your plan B if these sales channels are interrupted?
• What profit margins are you operating on?
• How will scaling impact profit margins?
• What pivots have you already made up until now?
• Can you tell me a story about how a customer has decided to choose you and their experience with your product?
• Who in this organization is most replaceable?
• What unique features are you working on?
• What other streams of revenue can be added to this?

Corporate Structure

• How is the company currently organized?
• Who holds which titles?
• How are shares split?
• Is there an existing board or advisors?
• Where is the company registered?
• Who handles accounting?
• What unique skills and talents does each owner contribute?
• Name someone you chose not to include as a founder and why?
• Who filed the company?
• Who is the registered agent on record?

Existing Financing Round

• What is your exit goal? (i.e. IPO, M&A)
• What is your expected time frame for this?
• Who do you imagine will help you exit?
• When do you expect you will be conducting a follow up round of fundraising?
• How much is your pre-money valuation?
• How are you determining current valuation?
• How much are you trying to raise now?
• How many previous investors will participate in this round?
• What is the next milestone this money will take you to?
• How else do you hope an investor will help beyond money?