

In American grade-school, we learn the “Five Ws” interrogatives: Who, What, When, Where, Why. And How. “How” is always tacked on like “Y” to the vowels. I wonder if “How” and “Y” get together to smoke cigarettes and swap stories about the indignities of being the sixth-wheel.
When investors interrogate founders, these interrogatives arise, but with a twist: Adding the word “why” in front of each. The result is a framework to help decide whether a startup is viable. It’s been explored in part by others, but given in full below.