Prepare for your Khosla Ventures interview

Deeptech evaluation and long-term commercialization thesis for climate and energy.

Socratify AI

The Interview

What Khosla Ventures is looking for

Technology Interview

Technical Differentiation

01Technology Risk

02Patent Portfolio

03IP Moat

04Scalability

Commercialization Interview

Path to Commercialization

01Timeline

02Capital Requirements

03Regulatory

04Market Timing

Investment Thesis Interview

Climate & Energy Thesis

01Impact Alignment

02Market Size

03Competitive Advantage

04Exit Potential

Behavioral Interview

Behavioral & Vision

01Technical Depth

02Founder Resilience

03Long-term Thinking

04Impact Mindset

Deeptech & climate focus//10-20 year thesis//Technical diligence

Practice Library

Khosla Ventures exercises

Ready to ace your Khosla Ventures interview?

Prepare for your Khosla Ventures interview

Deeptech evaluation and long-term commercialization thesis for climate and energy.

Socratify AI

The Interview

What Khosla Ventures is looking for

Technology Interview

Technical Differentiation

01Technology Risk

02Patent Portfolio

03IP Moat

04Scalability

Commercialization Interview

Path to Commercialization

01Timeline

02Capital Requirements

03Regulatory

04Market Timing

Investment Thesis Interview

Climate & Energy Thesis

01Impact Alignment

02Market Size

03Competitive Advantage

04Exit Potential

Behavioral Interview

Behavioral & Vision

01Technical Depth

02Founder Resilience

03Long-term Thinking

04Impact Mindset

Deeptech & climate focus//10-20 year thesis//Technical diligence

How It Works

Master Khosla Venture Interviews

Deeptech evaluation and commercialization. · Click to expand

1Your Venture Capital Goals

Founder Evaluation

Practitioner

Market Sizing

Practitioner

2Venture Capital Case Prep

Battery startup with novel chemistry, 5-year manufacturing timeline, $2B capital...

CASE INTERVIEWHard

Khosla Ventures

3Frameworks

Framework

Is the founding team and organizational structure world-class?

What is the relevant experience and execution track record?

CEO: 8 years at Google (Workspace), VP level; IPO experience

CTO: First startup, but 6 years at Palantir (data systems); raised seed themselves

Is the team cohesion and culture-building evident?

Team size: 35 headcount, 12 month churn 18% (vs SaaS median 22%)

Founded together 2 years ago; no co-founder conflict signals

Is the addressable market large enough to justify $200M post-money?

What is the total addressable market (TAM) and competition?

TAM: $180B (enterprise workflow automation globally)

SAM (serviceable available market): $12B (mid-market segments targeted)

What is the competitive positioning and differentiation?

Competitors: UiPath (mature, public), Blue Prism (niche), Automation Anywhere (overcrowded)

Differentiation: AI-native orchestration (vs rule-based); low-code for citizen developers

Are unit economics strong and path to profitability clear?

What is the customer quality and unit retention?

ACV: $85K (vs UiPath $250K), NRR: 118% (expansion + land-and-expand)

CAC: $25K, payback period: 3.5 months (excellent)

What is the path to profitability and burn profile?

Monthly burn: $1.8M, runway after $20M raise: 18 months at current burn

Profitability target: month 24 at 35% EBITDA margin (based on SaaS benchmarks)

4Feedback

Founder Fit

Distinctive

Market Opportunity

Distinctive

Unit Economics

Strong

Investment Conviction

Strong

Repeat

Practice Library

Khosla Ventures exercises

Battery startup: novel chemistry, 5-year manufacturing timeline, $2B CapEx. Invest?

CASE INTERVIEWHard

Energy · DeeptechKhosla Ventures

Carbon capture at scale: capital requirements, timeline, regulatory risks.

LEARNHard

Climate · CommercializationKhosla Ventures

Tech is 10 years away. Founder has 2 years runway. What do you do?

LEARNMedium

Deeptech · TimelineKhosla Ventures

Convince me this deeptech will scale before the planet burns out.

BEHAVIORALMedium

Behavioral · ConvictionKhosla Ventures

Worst investment thesis you've seen. Why did it fail?

BEHAVIORALMedium

Behavioral · JudgmentKhosla Ventures