Reference check questions for founders: who to call, what to ask

The references a founder hands you are the least useful ones. The useful calls are the ones nobody arranged, and they need better questions than "Would you recommend her?"

For a seed company, the reference call often carries more weight than it should. Tracxn's figures for January to late September 2026, reported by CXOToday, counted 338 Indian tech companies funded for the first time. None of them had an earlier funded round whose diligence you could lean on. You're the first person doing it properly.

Reference calls are one part of founder verification, the first of the checks in our guide to evaluating early-stage startups. If you haven't pulled the founder's filings and directorships yet, do that first with our founder background check. Then pick up the phone.

Why the founder's reference list isn't enough

A founder's reference list is built to reassure you, so it rarely shows how the founder behaves under pressure. Use it as a door, not a verdict. Call those people, then ask each one who else knew the founder well, and keep going until someone gives you an answer the founder didn't plan for.

Investors put the team first for a reason. In the Gompers, Gornall, Kaplan and Strebulaev survey of 885 venture capitalists, the management team was named the most important factor by 47% of firms. Those same firms blamed the team for failures 92% of the time. The average firm called 10 references; early-stage firms called 8. The sample is mostly American and was surveyed around 2016. Still, the lesson travels. If the team decides the outcome, the calls about the team deserve a plan.

Who to call, and in what order

Call in rings, usually 3 of them. Start with the founder's list to warm up and learn names, move to people who worked beside the founder, and finish with people who had reason to be unhappy. Each ring should be harder to reach than the last, and more useful.

• The listed references: 2 calls. You're mapping names, not hunting for problems.
• Former co-founders and early employees: pull the founder's Director Identification Number from Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings, list every company it appears on, then find the people who left those companies on LinkedIn. It takes an evening. It's worth it.
• Customers, current and lost: ask the founder for one who left. If they won't give you one, that's an answer too. The purchase manager who signed the first invoice usually knows more than the CEO who signed the press release.
• Earlier bosses or investors: anyone who saw the founder miss a target and had to talk about it.

Reference check questions, by caller

Ask for moments, not opinions. "She's great" tells you nothing, whether it comes from Bengaluru or Boston. "She called every customer herself the week the product broke" tells you a lot. Each question below asks the caller to remember something specific, which makes polite vagueness harder.

For former co-founders and early employees

1. How did you come to work together, and why did it end?
2. Tell me about a week when things went badly. What did the founder do on Monday?
3. How did they handle someone on the team who wasn't working out?
4. What did they get wrong that they later admitted?
5. How were decisions on money and equity made?
6. Would you work for this person again? Why?

For customers

7. Why did you buy, and what nearly stopped you?
8. What happened the first time something broke?
9. Who do you call at the company when there's a problem?
10. If you left, or nearly did, what was the reason?
11. What did they promise that hasn't arrived yet?

For earlier bosses and investors

12. What was their role, and what did they own?
13. Tell me about a target they missed. How did they tell you?
14. How did they treat people who reported to them?
15. What kind of work should they never be given?
16. Out of ten, how would you rate them? What would make it higher?
17. Is there anything you'd want to know if you were in my seat?
18. Who else should I speak to?

How to read what you hear

The answer matters less than the way it arrives. A long pause, a sudden switch to careful wording, or praise that stays general however hard you push are findings in their own right. Write them down word for word, with the date, the caller's role and how long they worked with the founder, and test each one against a second caller before you decide what it means. Don't trust memory. By Friday, Tuesday's calls will have blurred.

Be fair, though. A former co-founder who left on bad terms will sound bitter. That's normal. What you want is a pattern: 2 or 3 people, who've never met each other, describing the same habit in different words. Look for the repeat, not the outlier.

One sour call is a story. Three people describing the same habit is evidence.

Then go back to the founder. Ask about the pattern without naming who raised it. Their answer is the last reference call, and often the most telling one. Keep the deal confidential on every call, too; you're asking about a person, and nobody you speak to needs the terms.

What to do next

Before your next first meeting, tell the founder you'll call people beyond their list. Then plan 5 calls across the rings: 2 from the founder's list, 3 you found yourself. Use the questions above. Record what you heard in your investment memo, pauses included, so the partner who reads it sees the evidence and not only your summary.

At MyStartupValley, founder verification is the first of six due diligence parameters our team uses, alongside market sizing, cap table, legal, client agreements and compliance. You still make your own calls. Nobody can make them for you. You just make them knowing the paperwork behind the founder has been checked. To review evaluated startups with sector and stage fit, see the investor workspace.

Questions

How many reference calls should an investor make before investing in a startup?

In a survey of 885 venture capitalists, mostly in the US, the average firm called 10 references, and early-stage firms called 8. Indian figures are not published. For a seed cheque, aim for a mix: two from the founder's list and three or four you found yourself.

Should you tell a founder you are making back-channel reference calls?

Yes. Tell the founder early that you call people beyond their list, as part of normal diligence. Good founders expect it. Keep the deal confidential on each call, and never share what one reference said with another person or with the founder by name.

What are the most useful reference check questions?

Questions that ask for a specific moment work well: tell me about a time the plan failed, what did the founder do next, and would you work for this person again. Ask each caller to rate the founder out of ten, then ask what would make it higher.

Sources: Gompers, Gornall, Kaplan and Strebulaev, How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions?, NBER Working Paper 22587, 2016 (Journal of Financial Economics, 2020) · CXOToday, Tracxn 9M 2026 Report: India Tech Funding Rises 7% to $10.3B Despite 38% Drop in Deal Volume, 24 Sep 2026