“Walk me through your revenue forecast.”

What they're really asking

Is the growth driven by real, controllable inputs? 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. Explain the engine: spend / CAC + organic = new customers.
2. Then customers x price, less churn, plus expansion = MRR.
3. Show the one or two assumptions that matter most.

An example answer

We spend $8k a month on paid acquisition at about $2,400 CAC, plus organic sign-ups growing 8% a month. Churn starts at 3.2% and improves to 2.5% in year 2.

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: Revenue Build, Assumptions. If you can open that tab and point to it, the follow-up question is easy.