(This is the second of three blog posts on financial models for startups. Yesterday I wrote about best practices in spreadsheet design.) I couldn’t find a good template financial model online, so I decided to create one. We started with a sanitized version of a financial model I had developed for startups I have run. ...
[Continue Reading]Best Practices in Spreadsheet Design
(This is the first of three blog posts on financial modeling for startups.) While some entrepreneurs may think that financial models are just a formality that needs completing in order to placate straight-laced venture capital types, the reality is that models can be essential tools for creating and analyzing the roadmap an entrepreneurial venture should...
[Continue Reading]Tax Credits for Startups in New York State
As our federal and state government continue to worry about job creation, they’re trying their best to promote entrepreneurship. Our CFO Alex Katz just sent out a memo to our portfolio, attached below, about 2 tax credits available to companies that do business in New York State. For background, we rarely see a CPA come to...
[Continue Reading]How Startups Should Report Financial Results
I asked Rick Eaton, CFO of Hashable, to write for you a sanitized version of some of the detailed reports that Hashable provides to its investors (which includes us). He’s provided below a template for both the cover email and the detailed report. Rick was previously CFO of ffVC portfolio company Quigo, sold to AOL for...
[Continue Reading]Disruptive Companies in Asset Management
We recently hosted an idea dinner on “Disruptive Companies in the Asset Management Industry”. The most attractive industries to disrupt are highly profitable ones, and asset management is traditionally a highly profitable industry. IMHO, the most successful disrupters in this area to date have been Vanguard (who popularized index funds) and the ETF industry. We...
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