The perfect pitch: This NEA partner says every founder should answer these 5 questions

NEA partner Tiffany Luck outlined the critical components of a successful venture capital pitch, advising founders to clearly articulate "The What" (problem and solution, often with a product demo), "The Why" (founder's unique perspective and market timing), "The Who" (the team), "The How" (milestones and progress), and essential "Numbers" including market size, traction, burn rate, and the specific capital ask. This framework provides a robust guide for founders seeking investment and offers institutional investors a structured lens for evaluating early-stage opportunities and founder-investor fit.

Analysis

This article provides a structured framework for evaluating early-stage venture capital pitches, as articulated by NEA partner Tiffany Luck. The core of the analysis is the 'What, Why, Who, How, and Numbers' model, which serves as a due diligence checklist for investors assessing founder-investor fit. The framework emphasizes a blend of qualitative and quantitative factors, starting with the product vision ('The What') and the critical duality of 'The Why'—both the founder's personal conviction and the market's readiness for the solution. It highlights that investors screen for founder 'obsession' and a compelling narrative on market timing. The importance of team cohesion ('The Who') and a clear, milestone-driven execution plan ('The How'), including lessons from any pivots, is stressed for assessing operational capability. Finally, the framework is grounded by quantitative metrics ('The Numbers'), specifically market size, user traction, cash burn, and a well-defined capital ask. While the article mentions public companies like Netflix Inc. (NFLX) in the context of a conference promotion, its primary value is in codifying the due diligence process within private markets, reflecting its low overall market impact score of 0.15.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Limited Partners in venture funds should use this framework as a benchmark to evaluate the due diligence processes of their General Partners, ensuring a systematic approach to assessing founder quality and market opportunity.
• Investors engaging in direct or co-investments in early-stage companies should adopt this 'What, Why, Who, How, Numbers' model as a practical checklist to de-risk opportunities and standardize their evaluation criteria.
• While focused on private markets, public equity investors can apply the principles, particularly the emphasis on founder conviction and clear articulation of milestones, as a qualitative overlay when assessing the management and long-term vision of founder-led technology companies.