๐ฌ๐ผ๐r ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ $๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ. ๐๐ ๐ช๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
Hitting $2M ARR is a massive accomplishment โ you've proven customers will pay for what you built.
Here's the nuance most technical founders don't know about: Professional investors evaluate your business through a completely different lens than customers do.
Your customers bought your solution. Investors are buying your system.
That means the sales motion that got you to $2M โ usually founder-led, relationship-driven and scrappy โ needs translation into the language investors speak: Repeatability, predictability and scalable unit economics.
The good news is you already have the raw materials. You just need to reframe what you've built.
Here are the questions investors will ask that reveal whether you've made this translation:
๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐?
If your first sales hire hasn't closed anything material, you don't have a sales process yet. You have founder magic โ which doesn't scale.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ?
"We close about 30% of opportunities" doesnโt tell investors anything useful. They want: Demo-to-trial conversion, trial-to-paid conversion and proposal-to-close rates. If you're guessing, you've got work to do.
๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ?
Most technical founders calculate CAC by dividing marketing spend by new customers. Investors calculate it with fully-loaded costs: your time, your sales hire's salary, tools, referral fees, even failed experiments with no revenue tied to them.
Your $800 CAC is actually $2,400. And if it's trending up as you scale? That's a red flag.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ?
You need 3-5x pipeline coverage at every stage to de-risk the forecast. "We have a strong pipeline" without the math tells investors you're hoping, not executing.
The gap between $2M ARR and institutional fundability lies in proving your sales motion is repeatable, measurable and profitable without you in every deal.
Before you pitch investors, ask yourself: Would I invest in a company where the founder can't answer these questions?
