I work with a startup in Austin and we are preparing for the Capital Factory application deadline at the end of the week. I wanted to take a minute to pull together most of the things that helped us get it all on paper.
Business Plan
Forming the business plan was really all about putting the idea of the company into a communicable form. I was late to the game, with the other two partners having worked on the project for a year. They are also tech guys and deeply involved in the problems we’re solving – I was not. By having the responsibility of putting the business plan together I had to rely on notes from all of our conversations and put my brain to work.
Here are some resources that helped write the business plan:
http://mbatoolbox.org/ – The business plan template helped bring the traditional structure of businesses upon a funky startup.
http://www.paulgraham.com/vwplan.html – Paul Graham’s business plan doesn’t have the lengthy template but still hits the target: getting the idea on paper.
http://www.bizzia.com/startupspark/business-plan-series-part-1-framing-your-plan/ – is good and breaks down different business plan types.
Numbers
Getting the qualitative marketing stories was easy, we are solving a legitimate problem for which there are many examples. Guaging the sort of bite we would take out of industries, and the size of industry we would create, was much harder. These resources helped:
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/10/glenn-kelmans-f.html
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/10/financial-model.html
What’s important?
http://www.paulgraham.com/investors.html – This is probably the most healthy guide to what to think about in the application and video.
Share what’s helped you in the comments.
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