How to answer critical questions every VC asks

Most Indian founders lose deals not because their startup is bad — but because they answer these 5 questions badly in the room.

This playbook gives you the exact framework to answer each one, built by someone who has sat on both sides of the table — investment banking and founder.

What's inside:

1) Why can't anyone else build this? — The 4 moats that actually work in India in 2026. Fill-in-the-blank answer structure included.

2) Tell me about a time things went wrong — The S-A-R-L framework. 4 parts, 60 seconds, turns your hardest question into your strongest moment.

3) Why you? Why now? — It's two questions, not one. Exact language for founder-market fit and market timing.

4) How will you make money? — The 5 unit economics numbers every VC asks for. What they mean, what good looks like, word-for-word template included.

5) How big is this market? — The bottom-up TAM/SAM/SOM formula that holds up under scrutiny.

+ A one-page Master Cheat Sheet. Read it the morning of every pitch.

This is for you if:

→ You have a pitch coming up and you're not 100% sure how to answer these

→ You've been rejected before and don't know exactly why

→ You want to walk in knowing what the investor is thinking before they ask

This is not generic startup advice. Every framework comes from real experience — not a textbook. Yours permanently. Use it for every raise.