I want to tell you something that most financial advisors will not.<\/p>\n
For close to a decade, I was the person on the other side of the table at a leading Indian venture debt fund \u2014 one that managed thousands of crores in capital and backed some of the country’s most recognised growth-stage companies. I read the financial files. I made the calls. And then I became a founder myself \u2014 building my own businesses, watching my own numbers get evaluated by people who think the way I used to think.<\/p>\n
That experience on both sides is why I started Bebaak. And it is the source of what I am about to tell you \u2014 because I have never seen it written plainly anywhere else.<\/p>\n
When a bank’s credit officer receives your file, they do not read it. They scan it. In the first 90 seconds, they are looking for three numbers: DSCR, TOL\/TNW, and current ratio. If any of these are visibly wrong \u2014 below 1.25 on DSCR, above 4x on TOL\/TNW, below 1.1 on current ratio \u2014 the file goes into the “decline or query” pile immediately, and everything else you submitted is irrelevant.<\/p>\n
The narrative on your business? The projections? The customer testimonials? None of it matters until those three numbers are in a zone that keeps the file in the “worth reading” pile.<\/p>\n
I have seen brilliant businesses with genuine growth stories get declined because their DSCR was 0.98 \u2014 two percentage points below the threshold. And I have seen mediocre businesses with thin margins get approved because their ratios were clean and their file was well-organised. The story matters \u2014 but only after the numbers pass.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What an investor thinks in the first five minutes with your deck<\/h2>\n
When a VC or angel investor opens your financial model, they are not reading it. They are pressure-testing it. The first three questions in their head are:<\/p>\n
Question 1: Does this person understand unit economics?<\/strong> Can they tell me their gross margin, their customer acquisition cost, and their payback period without looking it up? If the answer is no, the conversation is effectively over \u2014 even if the numbers are good.<\/p>\n
Question 2: Is the revenue real or hoped-for?<\/strong> Investors discount projected revenue by a factor of 3\u20135x in their heads. They add back that discount when they see historical actuals that show a consistent growth pattern. Show me 24 months of actual revenue data before you show me projections.<\/p>\n
Question 3: Does the founder know where the money went?<\/strong> Burn rate is easy to calculate. What matters is whether the founder can explain every significant cost decision and its expected return. A founder who says “marketing spend was high this quarter because we were testing CAC in two new channels and we now know which one works” is fundable. A founder who says “costs went up a bit” is not.<\/p>\n
The three things that killed deals I saw from the investor side<\/h2>\n
1. Debtors that nobody could explain.<\/strong> If your balance sheet shows \u20b92Cr in debtors outstanding for more than 90 days with no explanation, an investor or bank will assume the worst \u2014 that it is bad debt that has not been written off, or that the revenue was never real. Always have a written explanation of every debtor above 60 days.<\/p>\n
2. Related party transactions without documentation.<\/strong> Loans to directors, purchases from promoter companies, rent paid to a family-owned property \u2014 these are not automatically disqualifying, but they must be documented, arm’s-length priced, and disclosed. Hidden related-party transactions are the single most common reason due diligence kills a deal that seemed done.<\/p>\n
3. The founder who could not answer basic financial questions.<\/strong> “What is your gross margin?” “What is your net working capital cycle?” “What is your DSCR?” If a founder cannot answer these in a due diligence meeting \u2014 even approximately \u2014 it signals that finance is not being managed, it is just being filed. That is a fundability risk, not just a knowledge gap.<\/p>\n
The honest answer to “how do I make my file fundable?”<\/h2>\n
The businesses that get funded \u2014 by banks and by investors \u2014 share one characteristic: their financial story is told before the question is asked. The good DSCR is explained. The debtor ageing is addressed. The related party transactions are disclosed and contextualised. The projections are grounded in historical actuals.<\/p>\n
This does not happen by accident. It happens when someone \u2014 a CFO, a financial advisor, a co-pilot \u2014 sits with the business and prepares the file the way the decision-maker on the other side needs to receive it.<\/p>\n
That is exactly what Bebaak does. I know what the person on the other side of the table is thinking \u2014 because I was that person. And now I work for the business owner sitting across from them.<\/p>\n
\nBebaak \u2014 Finance, Finally Honest<\/div>\nDid this help? Let’s talk about your business.<\/div>\nI am Siba Panda \u2014 CA, CS, former CFO of a leading Indian venture fund. I work with MSMEs, exporters, funded startups, and GCC businesses to make their finances bank-ready, investor-ready, and clear. Start with a 45-minute Health Check.<\/div>\n