“How will you use the money?”

What they're really asking

Will the money create value? Investors rarely care about the question on its own. They're testing whether you know your numbers cold, whether your assumptions are honest, and whether you can explain them simply.

How to answer, step by step

1. Give a percentage split by category.
2. Link each category to a milestone.
3. Keep a small contingency.

An example answer

40% product, 20% sales, 15% marketing, 7% customer success, 8% G&A, 3% infrastructure, 2% recruiting and 5% contingency.

Figures are from Loopdesk, the fictional SaaS company in our sample files. Swap in your own numbers and keep the structure.

The answer that loses trust

Where the proof lives

Before the meeting, find the number behind your answer. In our workbooks it lives in: Use of Funds Planner. If you can open that tab and point to it, the follow-up question is easy.