Never fabricate answers or guess when you don't know something. Instead, acknowledge the question honestly: "That's a great question. I don't have that specific data with me, but I can get you the exact figure by tomorrow." Then explain your thought process or provide relevant context you do know. Follow up promptly with the complete answer. Investors respect intellectual honesty far more than confident BS—they've heard enough of that. What matters is demonstrating you'll be a reliable partner who communicates transparently when issues arise. That said, consistently answering "I don't know" to basic financial questions signals poor preparation and raises serious concerns about your operational grasp.

Conduct mock investor meetings with advisors, mentors, or other founders who understand the VC mindset. Ask them to grill you with tough questions for 60-90 minutes while recording the session. Review the recording to identify verbal tics, areas where you stumbled, or places where your answers lacked confidence. Repeat this process 3-5 times before real investor meetings. Additionally, prepare a "question bank" document with your polished answer to every question you might receive, organized by category. Review this document the night before meetings. Finally, coordinate with your co-founders so everyone provides consistent answers—contradictions between founders during meetings raise major red flags about team alignment and communication.

Aim for answers that are complete but concise—typically 30-90 seconds for most questions. Start with the direct answer to the specific question asked, then provide 1-2 sentences of relevant context or supporting evidence. Avoid launching into 5-minute monologues that overwhelm the investor with unnecessary detail. Watch for cues that you've answered sufficiently—if the investor moves to their next question or nods in understanding, you've said enough. You can always offer to elaborate: "I can go deeper on our cohort analysis if helpful, or we can move forward." Remember that investor meetings are conversations, not presentations. Leave space for the investor to guide the discussion to areas they care about most rather than exhaustively covering every possible angle.

Proactively addressing known weaknesses demonstrates self-awareness and builds credibility, but timing and framing matter. If you have an obvious weakness that sophisticated investors will identify immediately (high churn, customer concentration, competitive threats), address it briefly in your presentation before questions arise: "You'll notice our current customer concentration is high—our top 5 customers represent 40% of revenue. We're actively addressing this through our mid-market expansion, which has added 15 new accounts in the past quarter and is reducing concentration steadily." This framing shows you recognize the issue and have a mitigation plan. However, don't volunteer weaknesses investors might not discover or obsess over problems—briefly acknowledge, explain your plan, and move forward. The key is projecting thoughtful realism rather than defensive denial or excessive dwelling on negatives.

Always reserve time to ask investors thoughtful questions that demonstrate you're evaluating them as carefully as they're evaluating you. Strong questions include: "What concerns or hesitations do you have about our business that I should address?" (shows confidence in confronting issues directly), "How do you typically support portfolio companies in [specific area where you need help]?" (assesses value-add beyond capital), "What's your decision-making process and timeline from here?" (manages process expectations), and "Can you share examples of how you've helped similar companies navigate [specific challenge]?" (validates their relevant experience). Avoid generic questions like "What's your investment thesis?" that suggest you didn't research them beforehand. The best questions probe how they'll be as partners, uncover potential concerns early, and demonstrate your sophistication in evaluating investor fit beyond just valuation terms.