{"id":275207,"date":"2025-07-19T16:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T16:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/275207\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T16:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T16:55:08","slug":"the-perfect-pitch-this-nea-partner-says-every-founder-should-answer-these-5-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/275207\/","title":{"rendered":"The perfect pitch: This NEA partner says every founder should answer these 5 questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most founders eventually have to pitch venture firms in hopes of raising capital. Tiffany Luck, a partner at NEA<\/a>, took the stage at TechCrunch\u2019s All Stage event in Boston to answer how to craft the perfect one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think of a VC pitch as your initial way for assessing founder-investor fit,\u201d she told the crowd before diving into her presentation. One of the most important slides to have in a pitch is \u201cThe What,\u201d she said, meaning, \u201c\u2018The What\u2019 are you building.\u201d That\u2019s followed by \u201cThe Why\u201d you are the right person for the job and why you have a unique solution. But there\u2019s another Why, too: \u201c\u2018Why\u2019 is now the perfect time to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there is \u201cThe Who,\u201d she continued, \u201cWho have you recruited to do this crazy thing with?\u201d And finally, \u201cThe How.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are you going to get there? How are you getting there today? How will you get there over time?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Then, of course, \u201csome sense of numbers,\u201d she added, saying that part depends on what state a company is trying to fundraise for \u2014 pre-seed, seed, Series A, and so forth.\u00a0 \u201cThese are just meant to be the fundamental basics.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Setting the stage<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Luck explained, \u201cThe What\u201d sets the stage, telling the investor what the problem is, how it affects people, followed by what solutions exist today and where lies room for disruption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Showcasing a product demo during \u201cThe What\u201d is a good idea, she said, and that a lot of investors love product demos.\u00a0\u201cIf you think a picture is worth 100 words, I think a demo is worth 1,000 hours,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you see the product, you actually get it quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Luck said there are two different \u201cWhys\u201d every founder should address. First, there is the deeper Why, where a founder goes into their origin story and explains their unique perspective on a solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Obsession is key here, she said, adding that investors want to see and understand that a founder is completely consumed by a problem and solution. This this passion is what will keep everyone motivated to keep building, she said.<\/p>\n

Following this is the \u201cWhy now,\u201d which means going into the market dynamics and readiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s telling the story of why the market is ready for what you have or what you\u2019re building,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Why now leads into \u201cThe Who,\u201d where the founder is expected to talk about the team they\u2019ve assembled, how everyone\u2019s skills complement each other, and why everyone is obsessed with the mission of the product.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shared conviction piece is really important,\u201d Luck said. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018how are you all envisioning the future together?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe How,\u201d is where a founder is supposed to talk about \u201cmilestones.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here, she said, investors want to know what the minimum viable product (MVP) is? Who are the early users ? And what feedback the product is getting from them so far?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd again, explain where you are today. Where are you going? What have you learned?\u201d she asked, listing off the questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Talking about pivoting, if necessary, is also good here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luck noted that she often talks to founders who pivoted early or at some point in their journey. It helps investors learn more about the early phases of a company, of \u201cwhere not to go, what not to do, and it will help with the rest of the journey,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For the love of numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, she weighed in on the importance of numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestors do love numbers,\u201d she said. \u201cI think a lot of the important numbers also involve storytelling.\u201d Here, investors want to know about the market size and any traction a product might have. \u201cWhy do customers love this product? Why do you imagine that it\u2019s not only going to grow, but grow sustainably in a way that has great retention?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She likes to see a company talk about how much cash it\u2019s burning through, and what the runway looks like. The most important thing, though, is the ask: how much a founder is looking to raise this round and what they will do with the money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All together, the Who, What, How, and (two) Whys serve as a starting point, helping founders as they go forth on the entrepreneurship journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFounding a company is like extreme sports,\u201d she said, likening it to climbing Everest in particular. \u201cYou\u2019re going up on milestones, different camps. You\u2019re encountering challenges, you\u2019re weathering storms, and you know, eventually you\u2019re trying to make it to the top, to the summit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most founders eventually have to pitch venture firms in hopes of raising capital. Tiffany Luck, a partner at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3094],"tags":[51,3134,5036,41769,3322,3777,16,15,16221],"class_list":{"0":"post-275207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-funding","11":"tag-nea","12":"tag-startups","13":"tag-techcrunch-all-stage","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-venture"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}