So you’ve nailed down your business plan and you think your startup is ready for primetime. Nice work! Now it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll raise the capital…

Equity crowdfunding is a relatively new addition to the toolset for early-stage startups. It opens up a whole new market of potential investors who have never before…

The biggest thing that separates successful startups from the huge field of failed startups is that the successful startups avoided running out of money long enough to turn…

As a founder, a great financial model is the single most valuable asset you have to understand and interpret your runway, revenue, expenses, and many other important…

When you’re trying to raise capital for a startup, no tool is more valuable than a solid financial model. With a good model in your corner, you have data to support your story…

In today’s competitive economic climate, early-stage founders must be able to track and report their success using data. Investors want to see metrics, benchmarks, and…

Compare a startup in its first month against that same startup three years later, after it has closed its Series A funding round. You might think you’re looking at two completely…

The learning curve is always steep when you’re starting a new business from scratch. You don’t always know which marketing channels will be effective, which product features…

As an early-stage founder, you know how difficult it can be to raise capital. Sometimes it feels like an impossible task. First, you fight tooth and nail to prove your…

Ahh, yes, the exhilaration of being an early-stage startup. And by “exhilaration,” we mean terror. Just total, complete, absolute, abject terror. Look, we get it. We’ve been there…

An analogy that was shared with us by Troy Henikoff from MATH Venture Partners. It demonstrates the role a financial model can play for you as a founder, and we’d like to share…

Cash is oxygen, as they say. The need for startups to raise capital is beyond critical. And it’s much harder to do without the right software to help you organize your raise and track…

You’re probably familiar with this common myth: With hard work and dedication, any entrepreneur can turn their business into a success story. But you’re probably also…

Whether the downturn is mild or major, early-stage startups need to take it seriously and start getting prepared now. You need to define your runway as accurately as possible, and start…

2022 has been weird. Thankfully, halfway through the year, the moment remains hot for start-ups seeking Series A funding. In this post, we highlight five of the most inspiring examples…

Raising capital is often the single most important challenge facing early-stage startup founders. A well-documented investor pipeline is one way veteran investors help ensure success…

You used to be able to export your Financial Statements as individual CSVs. Now you can download each Section of the Assumptions tab as well. The CSV download button is located to the left of the purple “Add” buttons.

Over the past few years, the business of raising startup capital has changed drastically. Perhaps most importantly, raising capital from your community and network has become…

To get the most out of your model, you’ll need to update it every month. This post will tell you why, and, most importantly – how – to keep your financial model up to date with…

Building a financial model in Excel can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with complex spreadsheets. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with…

This post guides you through the entire Series A process, from drafting your tear sheet to signing your term sheet. We share tips about the timeline, common stumbling blocks…

Startup valuation is a tricky business. With typical business valuations, you’re looking at an established company’s financial reports. It’s much easier to calculate a business valuation…

A financial model is more than just a spreadsheet. If an investor shows interest in your pitch, they will immediately start to ask questions. Most of their questions will be answered…

If you just closed your Series A funding, congratulations are in order! Raising the funds to get your startup to this stage was no small feat. In many respects, you’ve already…

Being the founder of a startup can be both exciting and scary, particularly when raising capital from investors and managing your company’s finances. If this sounds…

Maybe you have a friend or a family member who has been talking about their Series A. Or maybe you’re just a curious person. Either way, we’ve put together a simple…

A financial model can help you build trust with investors, improve the efficiency of your operations, and unlock valuable insights about your business. However, not all…

Series A funding rounds are essential to the growth and success of a startup. It’s the first major round of funding after a seed investment, and it’s an important predictor…

A great financial model is critical for every startup. It allows you to get a glimpse of your future financial data. It allows you to make better decisions, and understand…

What are the differences between seed funding and a Series A? Raising capital is always a complex job, and each stage of financing brings its unique challenges and…

Raising Series A funding is a critical and challenging stage for any startup. For many new companies, this is the first time in their financing lifecycle when they’re required to share…

Fundraising records are being broken all across the board. But how big is the average series A round in this environment? We surveyed three leading sources to get a solid…

If you’re a founder with a new business concept, there’s a good chance you’re already working on a shiny pitch deck for your series A funding. You’re setting the stage to wow investors…

Our ability to have multiple Scenarios for your business was very valuable to many of you, but it was time-consuming to create new Scenarios from scratch. Enter Scenario Clone!

Venture debt provides financing to venture-backed startups that typically do not have significant cash flow or assets. Learn more about how venture debt works and find out if it’s a good…

A convertible note is a form of short-term debt that later converts into equity at the time of future financing round.

When you raise money on a convertible note, you create debt with a maturity date, which denotes the date on which the note is due, at which time the company needs to repay it.

When most people think “startup,” they envision success in Silicon Valley, New York City, and other major coastal cities.

It’s true, these metropolitan hubs are fraught with blossoming startups, investor money, and generally more social media relevance than that of a smaller Midwestern city. As a result, most people assume…

Fundraising for your startup can prove to be a full-time job. Particularly in the early days of building investor relationships, founders may spend more time growing their network and perfecting pitch decks than running the business.

This post outlines the five of the most important/most used formulas used when building a financial model in Excel…

In our last post, we shared that the number one reason startups fail is running out of money due to cash planning mistakes. Founders must prove a promising financial model to investors to achieve a successful fundraise and grow the business. Founders often acquire the initial financial model for the pitch, but fail to understand…

According to Investopedia, about 90% of startup companies fail, nearly 30% within the first two years alone. If you are a founder, this information likely comes as no surprise. Between identifying the correct target market, finding the right investors…

Investor Access lets you share your model quickly and easily: One of the main reasons people use Forecastr is to send their model to potential and current investors. Historically, you had to either send screenshots…

Formula View On Hover has been added to the Data Table:
Ever wondered where the numbers in each cell are coming from? Formula View On Hover lets you see the underlying inputs and formulas of individual cells just by hovering over them.

Last week, we began a discussion on how to talk valuation with VCs. Even experienced founders fail to forge deals with VCs because they…

Most venture capitalists bear witness to thousands of investment deals and have an advanced intuition on market valuation. Founders,…

Last week, the CEO of Forecastr, Steven Plappert, had the pleasure of joining Mike Kelly on the Startup Competitors’ podcast. The team at…

Perhaps the most pivotal building block for every startup exists on the foundation of its team. If you have a great idea or you are in t…

Do you have a solution for an important customer pain point? You may have a great business idea. However, if you are a first-time entrep…

Click here to check out our other videos! Raising money for a startup can prove extremely difficult, even under ideal circumstances. In t…

Forecastr went through the Techstars program in early 2020 and it was a game-changer for our business. As one of the most competitive acc…

Perhaps you are a founder with a great idea or minimum viable product. Perhaps you are an entrepreneur with a small business that you wan…

The holiday season is the time when everyone is cherishing their free time with their loved ones, taking time off from the daily 9 to 5 g…

As founders, almost every action we execute supports maximizing revenue, whether directly through sales or indirectly through our mission…

Paid advertisements are a highly popular, often effective strategy to increase website traffic and grow your startup. They are also a gr…

If you’ve searched “how to build a financial model” on the Google machine recently, you’ve already seen an information overload on confli…

Here at Forecastr, we constantly preach the importance of understanding your growth metrics to forecast the future. Marketing analytics …

The importance of productivity for founders transcends the outdated time management principles of large corporations. With limited resou…

Statistically speaking, the future is bleak for most startups. According to a Forbes study, approximately 90% of startups fail, including…

If you are a founder about to fundraise, you may be wondering exactly what you need to be prepared to engage and achieve investor money. …

From hundreds of books on the Amazon marketplace, we have selected our top four favorite reads for voracious founders.

You’ve got three big problems in front of you. A knife fight, a house fire, and cancer. Which problem do you tackle first? And be care…

Particularly for first-time founders, fundraising poses one of the most daunting tasks toward starting a business. Far too often, we see…

The investor pitch creates a narrative behind the vision of your startup. As founders, we spend hours perfecting the slidedeck and build…

A financial model can make or break your fundraise. Your model is the backbone of data behind what is otherwise a well-rehearsed pitch f…

In startup mode, small teams typically afford minimal staffing and resources dedicated to what most large companies consider standard ope…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every human life in some shape or form, whether directly from the virus itself, from restrictio…

As a business founder, I’ve discovered people start companies for two fundamental reasons: (1) to solve a problem in the world and (2) to…

If you haven’t already, check out the first and second installments of of this series where I shared the first three key initiatives in o…

Last week, I discussed how to optimize customer acquisition using objectives from the growth plan in your financial model. Like I shared …

A crucial driver of your company’s growth is the effectiveness, and efficiency of your customer acquisition. To optimize revenue as a bu…

Check out our full webinar covering how to use a financial model for fundraising A strong financial model is one of a founder’s most powe…

The pandemic we are currently enduring has created an environment unknown to the modern world. Public equity markets are volatile. Invest…