Navigator Consulting, an sister company of the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, supported young innovative companies from Cyprus scaling up in the European market.
Navigator provided a one-day training session and coaching services for selected start-ups within the framework of a wider project managed by the Research Foundation of Cyprus and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The objective of the training was to understand common industry practice for (a) attracting external financing of start-ups and (b) modelling and preparing for growth. These two issues are closely related, as investors want to understand how a start-up will evolve and what chances of success exist for a return on investment.
Taught by Philip Ammerman, the training curriculum included:
1. Financing Options and Methods for Start-ups and Scale-ups
Understanding the growth cycle: pre-launch; pre-revenue; growth
Review of different investor types: FFF; angels; VC; PE; banks; EU funding; IPOs
Investment criteria and expectations by investor type
2. Business Planning and Financial Modelling
Developing a dynamic financial and operating model
Assumptions; Workings; Profit/Loss; Capital Expenditure; Valuation Models
Sales and revenue modelling; sales funnel optimization; non-revenue growth
Expenditure modelling
Capital expenditure and use of funds by start-ups
Profit/loss model
Key financial indicators, including NPV, IRR, start-up valuation
Key operating indicators, including cash burn rate, runway, customer acquisition costs, active users, churn, etc.
3. Pitching and Term Sheets
Know what to ask for: Use of funds; Fund release and disbursement mechanisms
Preparing for and implementing investor due diligence
Structuring a term sheet: common investors requests and terms
Pre- and post-money valuation
Dealing with equity dilution in the first and subsequent funding rounds
Structuring a board of directors and start-up governance post-investment
4. Achieving Product Market Fit
Development and launch cycles
Customer feedback: UX / UI / CEM
Service delivery and fulfilment issues
Achieving customer share, customer engagement, segment/market share
Pricing models and methods
5. Scaling up and Growth
Selling methods and contracting, focusing on B2B and B2C
Growth hacking and online growth methods
Users and user management
Revenue and conversion models
Sales funnel optimisation
Marketing, Selling & Public Relations
Scaling up: Engineering, Orga, Customer Service, Contracting, Staffing