Investor question 6 of 50 · Market & business model
“What's your business model in one sentence?”
Short answer: the investor is really asking can you explain it simply? Answer in three steps: (1) who pays, for what, how often, and how much; (2) one number that proves it works; (3) keep it under 20 seconds.
What they're really asking
Can you explain it simply? 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
- Who pays, for what, how often, and how much.
- One number that proves it works.
- Keep it under 20 seconds.
An example answer
Teams pay about $400 a month for a shared support desk, and each customer earns back its acquisition cost in about five months.
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
Avoid
A two-minute answer full of features.
Where the proof lives
Before the meeting, find the number behind your answer. In our workbooks it lives in: Investor Presentation Masterclass, Chapter 8. If you can open that tab and point to it, the follow-up question is easy.