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Diligence and metrics
What investors look for before writing a cheque
Beyond the deck: the numbers, documents and founder behaviour seed and pre-Series A investors check before they commit.
Published 15 September 2026Updated 1 October 20261 min read
The short answer
Beyond the deck, investors test three things: whether growth is real by channel, month and cohort; whether each sale makes money after marketing (contribution margin, not gross margin); and whether spend can scale without CAC breaking. Expect questions on CM1 to CM3, CAC payback, 3 and 6 month retention, burn and runway, and revenue concentration, and have a clean data room ready before the first meeting.
Who this is for: Founders preparing for seed or pre-Series A investor meetings in India.
Summary: what most founders miss
- The deck gets the meeting; how the numbers hold up under questioning gets the cheque.
- For consumer brands, investors judge contribution margin after marketing, not gross margin.
- Numbers that differ between the deck, the MIS and the model cost more confidence than any single weak metric.
The deck gets you the meeting. What gets you the cheque is how well the business holds up when an investor starts pulling on the numbers behind it.
The business, in three questions
- Is the growth real? Investors want to see where revenue comes from by channel, by month and by customer cohort.
- Does each sale make money? For consumer brands that means contribution margin after marketing, not gross margin.
- Will it keep working with more capital? The question is whether spend can scale without CAC breaking.
Metrics that come up in almost every diligence
- Contribution margin by channel (CM1, CM2, CM3)
- CAC payback on the main acquisition channel
- Repeat rate and cohort retention at 3 and 6 months
- Monthly burn and months of runway
- Revenue concentration: top customers, top SKUs, top platforms
The documents
A clean data room shortens a round by weeks. Keep these ready before the first meeting: the cap table with all ESOP grants, past SHAs and investment agreements, audited or reviewed financials, MIS for the last 12 to 24 months, key contracts and any pending compliance items.
The founder
Investors are also testing how you run the company. They notice whether numbers match across the deck, the MIS and the model. They notice whether you answer the question asked, and whether follow-ups arrive on time. Consistency here builds more confidence than any single metric.
Common reasons a strong business still gets a pass
- The round size does not match the plan.
- Valuation expectation is far from comparable deals.
- The cap table is messy or has inactive co-founders holding large stakes.
- There is no lead, and nobody wants to go first.
Where we come in
Before we take a startup to investors, we run the same checks an investor would. Gaps get fixed before the first meeting, not during diligence.
Read next: how to build an investment story and how investors rebuild marketplace revenue. Preparing to raise? See how our pre-Series A fundraising support works.
Questions founders ask us
Which metrics do seed and pre-Series A investors ask for?
Contribution margin by channel (CM1, CM2, CM3), CAC payback on the main channel, repeat rate and cohort retention at 3 and 6 months, monthly burn and runway, and revenue concentration across top customers, SKUs and platforms.
What should be in a startup data room before the first meeting?
The cap table with all ESOP grants, past SHAs and investment agreements, audited or reviewed financials, MIS for the last 12 to 24 months, key contracts and any pending compliance items.
Why do strong startups still get a pass from investors?
Common reasons are a round size that does not match the plan, a valuation far from comparable deals, a messy cap table with inactive co-founders holding large stakes, and no lead investor willing to go first.
About the author
Written by the Alphamark Ventures team, a fundraising advisory firm helping founders raise seed, angel and pre-Series A rounds, with a focus on consumer, consumer tech and consumer AI. Figures are as of the date shown and are for general information; this is not legal, tax or investment advice.
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