Investor Connect Podcast

Back of the Envelope Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In setting up a fundraising plan at a high level, you set a revenue target five years out. You then draw a line from today to that five-year mark. Your fundraise and hiring plan will come from that. To calculate this quick and dirty version of th...

How to Show Financials in a Pitch Deck Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The financial projection is a key element in the presentation to investors. Many founders cut and paste cells from the financial model spreadsheet into a slide. This renders the information unreadable as the spreadsheet doesn't fit with the pre...

Thank you for joining us today for our TEN Capital Fundraise Launch Program. In this program, we help startups prepare for a fundraise. We provide templates, tools, eGuides, and advice to founders who are working towards raising funding. We'll kick off the session with a short overview on a fundraising topic, then we'll answer questions from the founders. I hope you enjoy this episode. ___________...

Assumptions and Drivers in the Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In building out your financial model, make explicit the assumptions you are using and identify the drivers in your business. Create a tab on the spreadsheet for assumptions and drivers for the investor to review. As you build out the re...

How Investors Use the Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors use the financial model to understand not only the business but also to learn about the founder and their skills. Here are some key points investors look for: Salaries -- investors look to see how well the team is compensated and if it...

This is Investor Perspectives. I'm the host of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled "Faith-Based Investing in a Post-COVID World", you'll hear about changes expected in the coming 12 months and our guests' final thoughts. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new era. The faith-based investi...

Characteristics of a Good Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The purpose of the financial model is not to predict the future with great accuracy but rather to understand the business and how it works. Here are some characteristics of a good financial model: The model shows what drives the business, su...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Adam Judelson, President and COO at mePrism. Founded in 2019, me​Prism believes that your online data is your property and that you have a natural right to privacy and the freedom to make choices without hidden influence. me​Prism hopes to help its clients collect all of this data from the many corners of the Internet, organize that data and place...

Best Practices for Building a Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Here are some best practices in building a financial model for your startup. Consider setting up the model to use for managing the business as well as the fundraise. Design the layout so you can test assumptions and scenarios. Capture yo...

Using Your Financial Model in a Pitch Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The financial model is a key component of your pitch. Use key financial numbers from the model to tell the story of how your business can scale up. Here are the steps: Start with your unit economics to show the business works. Show how the syste...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Patrick Michael Snyder, Executive Director at BizStarts. BizStarts brings entrepreneurs together from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs to create a collaborative learning environment that embodies positivity, inspires confidence, and develops people's capacity to achieve personal success and business growth. Working together, they are crea...

How to Use Your Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. After building your financial model, you can use it in several ways. Here is a list of use cases: Raising funding for the business by determining how much you need to raise and when. Generate financial forecasts and projections for managing the busine...

What to Include in Your Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In building your financial model, make sure you include the following: Revenue projections -- your estimate of revenue from all sources. Cost of Goods sold -- your estimate of how much it will cost to build and deliver the product or service....

This is Investor Perspectives. I'm the host of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled "Faith-Based Investing in a Post-COVID World", you'll hear our guests' investment theses. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new era. The faith-based investing space is now undergoing tremendous change as...

How to Build a Bottoms-up Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are two approaches to building a financial model: top-down and bottoms-up. The bottoms-up approach uses specific data from your financials, such as historical revenue, specific expenses, working capital, etc. You apply assumptions to t...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Hernan Haro, Founder and General Partner at MrPink VC.MrPink is a VC seed fund that invests in founders located in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, that address large regional or global challenges. MrPink empowers entrepreneurs in CAPUC (Chile, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Colombia), by providing the capital, hands-on support, advice...

How to Build a Top-Down Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are two approaches to building a financial model: top-down and bottoms-up. In general, you should use a bottoms-up approach for preparing the financial projections, which will be more detailed. To build a top-down financial model, consid...

Benefits of a Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Many startups build a financial model to show the investors and then leave it alone 'til it's out of date and no longer useful. The benefit of an up-to-date financial model is that it can actually help you make management decisions. Here are several way...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Sophie Liao, Founding Partner at Oyster Ventures. Oyster Ventures is a seed-stage-focused venture fund based in San Francisco, New York, and Hong Kong. They target companies that bring liquidity and efficiency to antiquated industries and with massive potential to scale. Since 2016, they have launched three funds and deployed capital into 80+ star...

How to Build a Financial Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. It's best to build your own financial model so you understand it thoroughly. Here are the steps to build your financial model: Define the goal for the model. Figure out how you will use it and what decisions you need to make. This will determine what d...

Why Build a Financial Model? Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In building a startup, the financial model is a key step in validating the viability of the business. Templates can educate on what to include and how to format, but it's best to start from scratch. Every founder should build their own financial model at...

This is Investor Perspectives. I'm the host of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled "Faith-Based Investing in a Post-COVID World", you'll hear our guests' investment thesis. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new era. The faith-based investing space is now undergoing tremendous change as...

Founder Business Skills Required Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In starting a company, there are key skills required of the founder: Here is a list of basic skills: Team building -- the founder must find a co-founder, build a board, and make the initial hires. Leadership -- the founder must set the vision of the...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Eloiza Tecson, Managing Partner at EY Ventures Group. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, EY Ventures Group is dedicated to moving early-stage (pre-seed and seed) brands and professionals forward at scale. Serving as strategic advisors and investors within the health, wellness, and sports space, the mission lies in elevating the brands of br...

Metrics for B2B SaaS Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Here are the key metrics for B2B SaaS startups: Committed Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR) - this shows the overall health of the business as it includes new users as well as churn. To calculate, take the current ARR and add new bookings and upsells and subtract...