📜Investment Memo

Company Overview

• What does the company do? Why is this a compelling opportunity?

• What is your hypothesis of the future, and how does this opportunity fit within it?

Mission / Vision

• Why was the company formed?

• What was the pain point being addressed?

• Where did this pain point originate from?

Customer

Target Market / Customer

• Who is the company selling to?

• What types of firms?

• Who within the organization specifically?

• Does this person have the authority to guide purchase decisions?

Problem / Need

• What problem is being addressed?

• How severe is this problem?

• How has the problem been validated?

Product

Product & Wedge

• Describe the product in detail.

• How does this address the problem stated above?

Defensibility

• What is defensible?

• What is not defensible?

• What has to happen in order for defensibility to become real?

Go-To-Market

• What is the GTM strategy?

• How feasible is it?

• What all has to happen in order for this product to become adopted?

Monetization

• How does the company plan to make money over time?

• What is the pricing model?

• Is the pricing model tiered?

• How are different tiers categorized?

Market

Why Now / Macro Trends

• What trends support the adoption of this type of technology?

• What have been the outcomes of previous teams that have tried to do this in the past?

• If they failed, why did they fail?

Market Size

• Clearly define the market.

• Does a market exist or does it need to be created?

• Is this an expanding or contracting market opportunity?

• Quantify the total size of the opportunity then work backwards to estimate what percentage of the total market is obtainable.

Competition

• Who is the direct and indirect competition?

• Who are potential competitors?

• How aware are the founding team of their competition?

• This should never be left blank.

Advantage

• Why is this company better than the rest of the field?

• What is their unique advantage?

• How sustainable is this advantage?

Competitor Analysis Template: Link

Traction

Product

• What has been built and shipped?

• What is still in production?

• What is the product roadmap and timeline?

Metrics

• What quantitative metrics are being tracked?

• What progress has been made so far?

• The more data points, the better.

Saas Metrics Dashboard: Link

Team

Founding Team

• Who is the founding team?

• What are their backgrounds?

• How did they meet?

Core Team

• Who else is on the core team?

• What are their different roles?

• What are their backgrounds?

• Why did they leave their previous roles to join this company?

Perspectives

• What is truly unique about the team?

• Why are they better than other teams you have passed on?

• What are their collective insights towards the problem they are solving?

Core Traits

• Can they build the product?

• Are they leaders you would follow?

• Do they understand the customer?

• Can they ship and sell their vision?

• Do they have tenacity, grit, hustle?

• Do they have self-awareness?

• Do they have unwavering conviction?

• Are they on a mission?

Fundraise

Round Dynamics

• What are the proposed terms for the fundraise (amount seeking, pre/post-money valuation if priced, valuation cap/discount/interest if convertible)?

• What are the uses of funds?

• How long will this extend runway?

• How much has been committed towards the round?

• Who has committed to the round?

• Did previous investors follow on?

Roadmap & Milestones

• What are the business and product milestones?

• How will this fundraise yield these milestones?

• What is the hiring plan?

Waterfall Analysis

Waterfall Analysis - 1X Liquidation Preference**:** Link****

Decision Check

Basic Questions

• Is this breakthrough technology?

• Is now the right time to start?

• Are they starting with a big share of a small market?

• Do they have the right team in place?

• Do you have a clear way to distribute the product?

• Is their business and market position defensible?

• Have they identified an opportunity that others cannot see yet?

• Can your team add value to this business?

Key Risks

• What are the risks you need to get comfortable with if you are to invest into this opportunity?

• Do the risks justify the upside rewards?

Pitch Notes

• What did you like/dislike?

• What did the partners think of the opportunity at first glance?

• What are concerns coming out of the meeting?

• Can answers to these concerns lead to a "yes" from the partners, or are there any dealbreakers?