A simple question that causes too many people to talk too much!
It doesn’t matter that your boss had a classic case of paranoid schizophrenia or that no one in the company had a clue of what revenues were. In an interview or networking situation, you do NOT go there in any answer.
Your response should be formatted as a simple, straight forward statement. If you keep it simple and state yourself in a matter of fact manner, people are satisfied.
Consider a response such as:
“The company lost a major contract, had to downsize and my role was eliminated.”
“The CEO and I had a difference in view on direction of the company.”
Don’t volunteer further information; you will find that in 99% of the time your simple, straight forward answer will be accepted and you will move on in the discussion.