As a private company, a lot of finance-related questions that journalists will ask are difficult to answer because they’re asking for proprietary information. Below is a list of common finance-related questions. Ideally, you will answer these questions truthfully, reframing the issue with an answer that delivers your intended message and doesn’t reveal any proprietary information.
Likely Questions
- What are your revenues?
- How much did you grow year-over-year?
- Are you cash flow positive?
- Are you profitable?
- When do you expect to reach profitability?
- What is your funding to date?
- Who funded you?
- What is your runway?
- When do you expect to raise further funds or go public?
- There’s been lots of consolidation recently – are potential acquirers courting you?
- How many customers do you have?
- What is your average deal size?
- Who is your biggest customer?
- What does your pipeline look like?
Possible Responses
- “That’s proprietary information, but I can tell you that… (then share something positive)
- our financials are rock solid.”
- 2014 saw the biggest revenue growth in our company’s history.”
- our customer traction/revenues last quarter far exceeded plan. We [closed more deals/booked more revenue] in the last three months than we did in all of 2014.”
- “It would be unfair to our investors to disclose that information, but I can tell you that we have [a good amount of funding/sufficient runway/committed investors] and…[bridge to your message]”
- “As a private company, we don’t disclose those numbers publicly. What I can tell you is that we believe we have a winning business model that allows for profitability in the [near/intermediate] term. From where I sit, what’s really exciting is…[bridge to your message]”
- “While I cannot discuss [specific deal size/customer details], at a macro level, …[bridge to your message]”
- “No one can predict future M&A or IPO market conditions, but let me tell you why I’m excited…[bridge to your message]
Interested in personalized media training? We can help. Simply contact us at start@sterlingpr.com.