As your sparring partner and CFO, we offer analytical tools, frameworks, and concepts that generate valuable market and business intelligence for Swiss startups and spin-offs. You receive support in tracking and benchmarking your operations to make smart and data-driven business decisions. With Startupmetrics we assess markets, industries, competitors, strategies, business performance and processes. We build financial models, financial forecasts and create content for convincing pitch decks. With our fundraising & grants services, we advise and support you in applying for startup investments and grants from business angels, seed funds, venture capitalists, later-stage funds, and other startup organizations. You will be aware of your biggest strengths and weaknesses concerning your business plan and operations. We calculate the fair value of your startup and spin-off, with the main aim of improving the chance that your startup and spin-off will be funded at a fair valuation. For selected Swiss startups and spin-offs, we conduct the entire business development and fundraising process at a highly competitive rate and mainly success-based. Check out our main services in more detail or contact us with the form below for further information.

1. Business activity monitoring & controlling

Business monitoring and controlling accelerates growth and funding Amount

Business monitoring and controlling sets the right incentives and measures the performance within your organisation. Measuring and tracking your business activities enables you to benchmark the performance against your objectives and your competitors as well as to take corrective actions if necessary. By quantifying business activities and performance of your team in sales, marketing, operations, R&D in combination with financials and cash flow, you can easily identify the bottlenecks in your startup and spin-off early on. Eliminate bottlenecks by refining the process, improving execution, providing additional resources or rotating the person in charge.

The three main benefits of business monitoring and controlling

1. Set the right incentives within your organisation
2. Track and benchmark the performance of your business with your objectives in a timely manner
3. Be able to identify bottlenecks early on and promptly take corrective action if performance deviates substantially from your targets

Four challenges that startups and business organizations face with business activity monitoring and controlling

1. Identify the KPIs that set the right incentives within the organisation and the team

2. Set attainable but ambitious benchmarks

3. Create and install an efficient reporting process and routine

4. Take corrective actions promptly if reported KPIs deviate significantly

Follow these steps to overcome the challenges in business activity monitoring and controlling in your venture

1. Create a smart KPI system that sets the right incentives for your team members to reach your main goals

2. Create a template for weekly, monthly and quarterly reporting

3. Install an efficient reporting process for data collection and generating the reports

4. Compare your KPIs with your objectives and industry benchmarks

5. Take corrective actions decisively to reach your main goals

6. Review your objectives and benchmarks periodically together with your team

2. Financial modeling & financial forecasting

What value does financial modeling and forecasting bring to you?

Financial modeling and forecasting helps you to assess whether your business idea can turn into a sustainable operating business. By predicting future revenues, expenses and cash flows, your financial model provides strategic guidance and sets benchmarks for business execution in the short-, mid- and long-term with company- and industry-specific KPIs. A solid financial forecast reveals the main value drivers as well as your burn rate and funding requirements of your startup and spin-off. Typically, you create a detailed financial plan bottom-up for the next twelve to twenty-four months to manage your startup and spin-off operationally. A less detailed financial forecast with a top-down approach including relevant KPIs until year five for potential investors.

What are the main goals of financial modeling and forecasting?

1. Translate your business idea and go-to-market strategy into financial figures

2. Show future revenues, expenses as well as cash in- and outflows in a profit & loss, cash flow and balance sheet statement

3. Capture the main value drivers of your startup and spin-off with company- and industry-specific KPIs

What are the biggest challenges in financial modeling and forecasting for your startup and spin-off?

1. Make verifiable and reliable assumptions, in particular when estimating revenues and sales, including customer lifetime value (CLV) and customer acquisition costs (CAC)

2. Be consistent and in line with your business plan, especially with regard to the go-to-market strategy and business model

3. Disclose and express the KPIs that are the main value drivers and benchmarks of your venture

4. Measure your burn rate and funding needs reliably

How can you build a solid financial model for your startup and spin-off?

1. Use your historical performance, even if it is only short, to justify your assumptions

2. Assess competitors to get valuable market and business intelligence such as growth rates, cost-ratios and other relevant benchmarks

3. Use a bottom-up approach in the short run to predict sales, expenses and cash flows

4. Use a top-down approach for long-term predictions, starting with serviceable obtainable market share followed by cost- and cash-flow-ratios observed in the industry

5. Create three scenarios such as worst, standard and best case to be prepared for a range of possible situations

3. Startup valuation & Startup due diligence

What value does startup valuation and due diligence bring to your business?

Startup Valuation and Due Diligence helps you define and estimate a fair value for your venture as well as reduce investment risk for investors and key employees which are at least partially compensated in company shares. Several valuation methodologies exist and are commonly accepted in the startup valuation community such as the Discounted Cash Flow (e.g. Venture Capital and Chicago Method), Market Approach (e.g. Market Multiples and Comparable Transaction), Scorecard (e.g. Berkus Method) and Replacement Value. By applying multiple valuation approaches independent from each other, a robust and fair estimate of your startup’s and spin-off’s value can be derived. This procedure also lowers the investment risk in your venture for investors and other key stakeholders.

What are the main goals of startup valuation and due diligence?

1. Define a fair value for your startup and spin-off before entering negotiations with your stakeholders such as business angels, venture capitalists, strategic investors, board members and employees
   
2. Reduce investment risk by thoroughly assessing the team, the market, the solution, the business model, the financials and the legal situation of the business
   

What challenges do most organisations face in startup valuation and due diligence?

1. Make solid and verifiable assumptions in your business plan despite missing market data, short track record and limited performance history

2. Reflect company-specific risks related to startup stage, team and product accurately in valuation methodologies applied

3. Choose the right valuation methodologies according to the stage of your business

Follow these steps to define a fair value for your startup and spin-off

1. Apply multiple valuation methodologies independent from each other to estimate a robust and fair value for your business that is accepted by your stakeholders

2. Validate assumptions made in your business plan by extracting business and market intelligence from internal and external data sources

3. Reduce investment risk by thoroughly and independently assessing your team, product, market and business model in detail

4. Fundraising & grants

What value does fundraising and grants bring to your business?

Every startup and spin-off wants a successful fundraising event, but very few make it. Sound preparation and a structured process increase your chances considerably. Start by defining your funding needs and goals. This will help you to create a suitable investor profile before approaching one for your company. Before reaching out to potential investors, create a convincing pitch deck and business plan that can be easily defended during due diligence.

What are the main goals of fundraising and grants?

1. Find investors that fit into your fundraising objective, i.e., business angels, venture capitalists or strategic investors that best match your startup's industry, technology, and stage

2. Get the desired funding amount at the solicited pre-money valuation

3. Raise your investment on time before your business asks for it

What are the challenges in fundraising and grants that prevent you from getting the funds you want?

1. Create the right investor profile that matches your business and funding requirement

2. Search and find contact details of investors that matches your investor profile

3. Approach potential investors and present a convincing pitch deck that makes a good impression and results in a first personal meeting

4. Defend your business plan and requested valuation as best as you can to pass the due diligence

Go through these steps to overcome challenges in fundraising and grants

1. Have a structured and efficient process in place

2. Create an ideal investor profile by reflecting startup stage, industry, technology and ticket size

3. Optimize and train your pitch multiple times to convince the investor at the first meeting
   

4. Create competition among investors for shares in your startup and spin-off to increase your negotiation power concerning your pre-money valuation

5. Market assessment

What value does market assessment bring to your business?

Market assessment is a critical study to evaluate the future potential of a new product, service or idea. A thorough market analysis helps you to determine the attractiveness of a market in terms of size, growth, competition, profitability and customers. The assessment assists you in identifying and selecting the ideal market positioning for your organisation in a competitive landscape. Further, a deep understanding of your customer's demand helps you create an effective and well targeted go-to-market strategy. Both, ideal market positioning and targeted go-to-market strategy,  substantially reduce the chances of business failure.

What are the main goals of a market assessment?

1. Detailed analysis of market environment, including market trends, competition, risks, and opportunities
   

2. Helps you to understand the characteristics of your market and customer needs

3. Find the right market and product positioning for your venture

4. Base your go-to-market strategy on market intelligence and customer feedback

5. Reduce risk of business failure

What are the challenges that most of the startups face in market assessment?

1. Discover and select an attractive market segment based on size, growth, trends and competition

2. Understand the customer journey

3. Identify and choose the ideal target customers

4. Derive your ideal market positioning and go-to-market strategy

How can you overcome market assessment challenges?

1. Apply frameworks to determine attractiveness of potential markets

2. Draw a detailed customer journey

3. Engage with your potential customers early to receive first feedback about your new product and services i.e hypotheses testing

4. Base your market positioning and go-to-market strategy on your thorough market assessment to substantially reduce your risk of business failure

6. Pitch deck assessment

What value does a pitch deck assessment bring to your business?

Startups often prepare a pitch deck to present their company to prospective angel or venture capital investors. A complete pitch deck typically consists of a ten to fifteen slides presentation and is intended to showcase the company's business idea, market, products, technology, and team to key stakeholders. Raising capital from investors and finding the right board members is difficult and time consuming. Therefore, a startup must create a convincing pitch deck by articulating an attractive business case. Creating a short and straightforward pitch deck increases your chances of getting your first meeting with your desired key stakeholder.

What are the main goals of a pitch deck assessment?

1. Receive valuable inputs to create a robust and convincing pitch deck to get the first meeting with your potential investors, clients, and board members

2. Showcase your business idea in a simplified but comprehensive way

3. Share a captivating story that communicates the economic reason of your organization to be in the market and in business

What makes the creation of a pitch deck challenging?

1. Create a short but complete and convincing pitch deck at the same time

2. Determine the elements which are most relevant to your target audience

3. Showcase an attractive business case concerning your startup

4. Present accurate and plausible information rather than unrealistic or irrelevant projections

How do you create an effective pitch deck for your audience and investors?

1. Create a pitch deck using a simple framework like the one from Startupmetrics

2. Provide an accurate market assessment and demonstrate that you understand your potential customers

3. Explain how your solution solves a problem in a better way than your competition

4. Illustrate that you understand how to make money with your startup

Contact us