What are the major criteria that VCs would be looking into before investing, or rather, what interests them?

As a startup entrepreneur, it is highly imperative to know what type of questions the VC team would be asking you. If you present them with facts and figures they would probably be interested in your project.

So what are they interested in?

If you had a little guide, you could probably be better prepared. Let's try to get into the minds of the VCs. The first and foremost important question that would come hurling at you would be:

1. How is your product different from others in the market or what particular pain point are you going to address with your unique product? Define the real market problem that you have identified and how your product would solve the particular issue.
2. Once you have conveyed your idea to the VC team wouldn't it be nice if you could show them a prototype on how your product works. Show them the core features and how it works. This would definitely give you an edge and catch their attention.
3. The next step would be to look at the user base that is using the product. It would be ideal if you could show the user data and also show them the number of users who are returning to use your product. Any kind of web tracking tool would help gather the data.
4. Now comes the important part, how do you plan to attach a revenue model to your product? This is one of the major points that you would need to convey to the VC team as this can make or break the whole idea.
5. Now it is time to have a look at the team – are you experienced enough? A profile of you and the development team would be ideal.
6. What is the amount of money that you are looking for?

Above all, expect the unexpected. Have a great attitude and give it your best shot; success will be yours.