UPDATED: How to deal with difficult questions when presenting your startup?

Insightful post! Thanks for sharing.

Many thanks for these insights!
A few weeks ago I was also part of a pitch event. I think it is also very important to have a good team behind you and to explain why you are able to solve a certain problem with our know-how and your background.

From my experience for having presentation like this is don't lose your cool. It's okay if you have no correct answer for some questions, as long as u keep your behavior & character, u will be okay. Keep being honest. Good character will help u a lot.

I have been looking into an insight like this, is incredible and direct. Thank you.

Good tips, @viktor_ilijev!

There's one thing I'd like to add: Evaluate if questions of the audience even make sense rather than giving half-baked answers.

It's likely that a lot of questions don't make sense because folks lack knowledge of your product and experience you made with it. So, don't be afraid to turn questions down politely but make sure to explain the reasons. This shows that you know the status of your business and are able to prioritize.

I'm creating a google document with these exact props. Thanks!

I had a presentation for my startup and I was very nervous because I have not presented in public before. Then my presentation went well and the audience seemed interested, but some questions were challenging to answer.

I think that it is important to be prepared for any question that may arise during your presentation. If you get asked a question you can't answer, don't panic. Try to answer it anyway or ask for some time to look into the problem and get back to them later.

I've been a part of a few startup presentations, and I've learned that the best way to deal with difficult questions is to keep your cool.

When you're presenting your startup, you want to be engaging and informative—but it's easy for someone to get derailed by an unexpected question. If someone asks you something you don't know how to answer or doesn't like what they hear, try asking them if they'd be willing to hold their thought until the end of the presentation so that you can figure out an answer together.

If they say yes, then go back over your presentation and see if their question has already been answered. If it hasn't, just re-word what you're saying in a way that answers their question without giving too much away.

If they say no, then ask them if they could give specific examples of what they don't understand so far. If they still seem confused after this point in the presentation, then take a moment before answering—because this is probably something that should have been addressed earlier on in the presentation itself!

When I first started my company, it was a lot of work. I had to figure out how to develop the product, who to hire, and how to market myself. It was overwhelming, but also exciting!

But when I was ready to present my startup at a conference in front of investors, I was nervous. What if they asked me questions that made me look bad? And what if they didn't like the idea of my company? The thought of it made me feel sick to my stomach.

I worried about what would happen if people didn't like my idea and wouldn't invest in it. But then I realized: This is exactly why I started this company in the first place—to get feedback from other people and make sure they're interested in what I'm doing before moving forward with it! So I knew that even if they didn't want to invest in my idea right now, there were still good reasons for me continuing forward with it.

And you know what? They loved it! They thought it was an awesome idea, and they wanted to invest right away! It turns out that having an audience for your idea is just as important as having an idea itself—so don't be afraid to ask questions when presenting your startup.

I recently had the chance to present my startup at a local event. I was nervous, but it was a great experience.

One of the things that helped me get through the presentation was knowing what questions I would be asked, and having prepared answers to them.

I was able to anticipate some of the more common questions and think about how I would respond to them. For example, someone asked me "How do you plan on making money?" and I had already thought about how best to answer that question during my preparation.

Another thing that helped me was having an outline for my presentation so that I could stay focused and know where I was going with it (and not feel tempted by questions or other interruptions).

When I first started presenting my startup, I was terrified of questions from the audience. What if they ask something I don't know? What if they think my product is stupid? What if they make fun of me?

But then I realized—it doesn't matter what anyone thinks. It doesn't matter what anyone asks. You can say "I don't know," or you can say "me too" or "you're right." And you'll be fine. Trust me.

When I was presenting my startup at a conference, one of the questions asked was about how we plan to deal with the fact that our product is very similar to a product already in the market.

Our answer was that our product is different from the product already out there because it does not require any hardware or installation on the user's end. The other product requires customers to purchase hardware and set it up themselves.

The presenter then asked how we planned to deal with customer support issues, given that our product is so simple and easy to use that it would be difficult for users to have issues with it.

Our response was that we had thought of this issue and had come up with several solutions:

1. all customer support will be handled by phone calls;
2. we will offer a 24/7 call center where customers can call in and speak with someone who can help them resolve their issues;
3. if a customer has an issue with their computer, they can call us and we will provide remote access so that we can fix it ourselves;
4. if a customer has an issue with their phone or tablet, they can call us and we will provide remote access so that we can fix it ourselves.

I have been asked a lot of questions about my startup, but the one that really stood out for me was "What does your company do?"

It's not like I didn't know what my company did. We are a social media company that helps you stay in touch with your friends and family members by sending them gifts, reminders and notifications.

But, when I was asked this question, I was so nervous that my mind went blank. If you are presenting your startup to investors or potential clients, you can't let this happen to you!

Here are some tips to help you answer any question:

1. Listen closely to what the other person is saying.

2. Take a deep breath before answering their question.

3. Answer their question using their words: "I understand that when you asked me what my company does, you wanted me to tell you about our service."

4. If they ask another question, repeat step 3 until they are satisfied with your answer!

I always think of the same example when people ask me how to deal with difficult questions when presenting your startup.

In college, I worked in a restaurant called The Kaleidoscope. It was a sort of "fast-casual" restaurant where you could order food that was inspired by different cultures, and then they'd mix it up and serve it to you in a bowl or on a plate. You could get something like tikka masala and hummus with some veggies for lunch, or maybe pad thai with fried tofu for dinner.

It was a pretty popular place on campus—but not as popular as we wanted it to be. We knew there was something missing from our brand that would make people want to come back again and again. So we decided to host events where we could introduce ourselves directly to potential customers by offering free samples of our food at various locations around campus during lunchtime hours.

I volunteered for the job of handing out samples at these events because I figured it would be easy—and it was! People were so happy just getting something free that they weren't even bothering asking questions about what they were eating or why they should come back later in the week when they could get more samples.

In my experience, the best way to deal with difficult questions when presenting your startup is to be prepared for them.

When I was first starting out, I used to get really nervous about being asked a question I didn't know how to answer. Then I realized that if I had thought about this question ahead of time, then the answer would have been in my presentation somewhere. So now, before every pitch, I stop and think about the difficult questions I might get asked and try to anticipate what those might be.

The problem that the market is facing (thus stressing the need for a solution).

This is probably the most important bullet of all the bullets you listed (they were all important, though.) You need to understand the problem your solution solves.

What's funny about is software is multiple people may interpret the solution a product does differently, but they all need to buy into the value of it. I.e YouTube --> some people see this an opp for creators, others an advertising hub, others an ideological company built on changing the world of media. Whichever one people think, they all think these things are interesting and worth investing in.

Thank you Viktor, in my experience when I'm given a difficult question, I like to take a pause while I think of a good answer, rather than jumping in and filling up time with filler words. I try to show appreciation for their question and if I have ultimately decided I am unable to find a sufficient answer, I would let them know I don't have it at that moment, but that I will find it and let them know if possible.

Wow, really insightful post, Viktor, thanks! One thing I would add is: do some background research on the people you're presenting to. Obviously, this isn't practicable if you're presenting to a large group of people. But if you're presenting to 3-5 potentially interested parties, try to find out what their interests and specialties are, because they're likely to ask questions related to that. Knowing what these things are in advance can help you better prepare your answers to their potential questions.