# Founder interview question generator

> The founder interview question generator picks questions for a first founder interview from a fixed, hand-written library. Choose the company's stage, its sector, the topics to cover and how many questions you want. Each question comes with what a good answer includes and the evidence to ask for. There is no AI and no randomness: the same choices always give the same list, so founders in the same round get comparable questions.

Source: https://delsivo.com/tools/founder-interview-question-generator · Updated 2026-11-06

## Key takeaways

- Ask every founder at the same stage the same core questions, so their answers can be compared.
- Each question pairs with the evidence that would back up the answer, from a customer list to a bank export.
- Questions are about the business. None asks about age, family, nationality, religion, health or appearance.
- Judge the substance of an answer and its evidence, not accent, fluency or how polished it sounds.

## How to use the founder interview question generator

1. Pick the company's stage: idea, pre-revenue or post-revenue. The stage decides which questions apply, so a post-revenue company is asked how it defines revenue rather than what would prove demand.
2. Pick the sector. Health, fintech, hardware, marketplace, consumer and B2B software each add questions of their own, such as approvals, licences or unit costs.
3. Tick the topics you want to cover, from problem and customer to use of funds.
4. Set how many questions you want, between 3 and 15. The tool shows the expected length at about two minutes per answer.
5. Turn reviewer guidance on or off, then copy the list into your interview notes, a form or an email.

## How the questions are chosen

The library holds about 45 questions, each tagged with a topic, the stages it suits and, for some, a sector. The tool keeps the questions that match your choices, then takes one from each chosen topic in turn until it reaches your count. Within a topic, a question written for your sector comes first, then the general ones in a fixed order.

Because there is no random step, two partners who make the same choices get the same questions in the same order. Change the stage or sector and the list changes in a predictable way.

What the questions focus on at each stage

| Stage | Focus | Example question |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Idea | The problem, how the founders found it, and the test that would prove demand | What would you need to see in the next three months to know this is working? |
| Pre-revenue | Signals short of revenue, the first customers and how they decided | What evidence do you have that people want this, short of revenue? |
| Post-revenue | Revenue with its definition, paying versus free customers, growth, margins and payback | How many customers pay you, and how many are on free pilots or trials? |

## Why every founder gets the same core questions

Comparable questions make comparable answers. If one founder is asked about churn and another about vision, a reviewer ends up comparing conversations rather than companies. Hiring research points the same way: the US Office of Personnel Management describes structured interviews, with the same predefined questions and benchmarks for scoring, as showing higher rater agreement and reliability than unstructured ones.

A founder interview isn't a job interview, and a fixed list is a floor, not a script. Ask follow-up questions where an answer is thin, and note the evidence you asked for so the next reviewer can see what is still open.

## What the questions leave out

No question in the library asks about a founder's age, family plans, marital status, nationality, religion, health or appearance. They tell you nothing about the company, and in many places asking them is unlawful or unfair. A test in the tool's code checks the library for these topics.

The reviewer guidance describes the content of a good answer, never the delivery. Accent, fluency, confidence on camera and presentation polish are not part of the assessment, and the copied text says so at the end.

## Limits of a fixed question library

- The questions don't know what is in the founder's deck. Read the deck first and add questions about the specific claims you want checked.
- The tool doesn't score answers. The guidance helps you judge them, and the decision stays with you.
- Two minutes per answer is a planning assumption, not a measurement. Some answers take longer, especially ones that need numbers.
- Seven sector options cover common cases only. For anything else, choose Other or general and add your own questions.
- The library is in English.

## Founder interviews in Delsivo

Founder interviews are planned for Delsivo's first release. By design, each is a live call the founder starts when it suits them: a screen-share pitch of about 5 minutes, then an AI interviewer asks the fund's fixed questions and follow-ups drawn from the pitch, the deck and open claims, within a cap of 15 to 20 minutes the fund sets. A text interview under the same rubric is always available. AI suggests an assessment of substance and evidence, with timestamped transcript citations; analysts decide who advances and can override any assessment with a reason. [Read how founder interviews will work](https://delsivo.com/founder-interviews).

## Frequently asked questions

### What questions should investors ask founders in a first meeting?

Questions about the problem and who has it, the customer and how they buy, the evidence of demand, the team's prior work, the market and competition, how the company charges, and what the round will achieve. Ask the same core set of every founder at the same stage, and ask for the evidence behind each answer.

### Does the founder interview question generator use AI?

No. It picks from a fixed library of hand-written questions using fixed rules, in your browser. The same stage, sector, topics and count always give the same list, and nothing you choose is sent anywhere.

### How many questions fit in a short recorded founder interview?

At about two minutes per spoken answer, five or six questions fit in about 12 minutes, which is roughly the questions part of a 15 to 20 minute interview after a 5 minute pitch. Keep longer lists for a partner call, or split them between the interview and a written follow-up request.

### Can investors ask founders about their age or family plans?

They shouldn't. Those questions say nothing about the company and are unlawful or unfair to screen on in many places. Keep questions to the business and the evidence behind it.

### Is the question generator free to use?

Yes. It is free, needs no account and has no usage limit. Copy the questions into your own notes or forms; they are yours to edit.

## Sources

- [US Office of Personnel Management: Structured interviews](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/assessment-and-selection/other-assessment-methods/structured-interviews/) (checked 2026-11-06)

## Related pages

- [Founder interview questions template](https://delsivo.com/templates/founder-interview-questions)
- [Questions to ask founders](https://delsivo.com/questions-to-ask-founders)
- [Asynchronous founder interviews](https://delsivo.com/asynchronous-founder-interviews)
- [Founder interviews in Delsivo](https://delsivo.com/founder-interviews)
- [VC application form builder](https://delsivo.com/tools/vc-application-form-builder)