At SEED, the bar was clarity: know your burn, know your runway, and tie cash to milestones with discipline. Investors wanted proof you weren’t guessing.
At PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, the bar rises: now it’s not just about confidence in the numbers — it’s about credibility under launch conditions. You must prove that your model, your forecasts, and your capital plan will hold up when real customers, real contracts, and real spend begin to scale.
This is the last stop before outside eyes start combing through your spreadsheets in diligence. If there’s slippage, sloppiness, or hand-waving, it will be exposed here.
“Diligence doesn’t break your numbers. It just reveals whether they were ever real.”
Purpose
- Show that your financial strategy is accurate, current, and aligned with your operational plan.
- Demonstrate credible runway and funding use that map directly to milestones.
- Build investor and partner confidence with clear, defensible numbers.
- Ensure capital is being deployed for growth — not patching leaks.
When to Complete
- MVP is validated and launch prep is underway.
- Forecasts are tied to GTM plan and operational readiness.
- Burn, runway, and funding plan are updated within the last 30 days.
Proof Sections
Burn Rate & Runway
- What’s your monthly burn and cash in bank?
- How many months do you have — and what milestones will you hit before zero?
- B2B SaaS: “Burn: $32K/mo. Cash: $240K. Runway: 7.5 months. Will complete production version, close 50 customers, prove 3:1 LTV:CAC.”
- B2C CPG: “Burn: $45K/mo. Runway: 6 months. Will secure national distributor and launch 2 new SKUs before Q4.”
- Services/Ops: “Burn: $18K/mo. Runway: 9 months. Will expand to 3 new territories and reach break-even.”
Revenue Forecasts
- What’s projected for the next 6–12 months?
- What assumptions drive the top line — and are they holding?
- B2B SaaS: “Targeting $50K MRR by month 9 post-launch; forecast based on 18% trial-to-paid, 4% churn.”
- B2C CPG: “Year 1 sales goal: $1.2M; modeled on retailer commitments + DTC repeat rate.”
- Services/Ops: “Annual revenue target: $850K; modeled on avg. ticket size and 22% referral rate.”
Use of Funds
- What will this capital accomplish?
- Does it align with your growth roadmap?
- B2B SaaS: “$750K for 12-month GTM, hire 2 engineers + 1 GTM lead, and fund product iteration cycles.”
- B2C CPG: “$500K to secure national retail launch, initial inventory, and brand campaign.”
- Services/Ops: “$300K to fund expansion into 3 markets, hire ops manager, and upgrade scheduling platform.”
Investor Confidence Signals
- Are existing investors reinvesting?
- What milestones have you hit since last raise?
- B2B SaaS: “Retention up 40% since Q1; 2 early investors recommitted before term sheet.”
- B2C CPG: “Landed anchor retailer; doubled DTC repeat rate in last 90 days.”
- Services/Ops: “Achieved 95% client retention; secured 3 multi-year contracts.”
Execution Requirements
- Burn, cash, and runway metrics updated monthly.
- Forecast tied directly to GTM + delivery plans.
- Use-of-funds breakdown linked to specific milestones.
- Investor-ready reporting package complete.
Domain Adaptability — High
Financial readiness is a universal requirement; details vary by business model.
B2B SaaS / Software Products
- Track MRR/ARR, churn, CAC, LTV, and payback period.
- Tie burn to customer acquisition, not just R&D.
B2C Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
- Track unit economics, retail sell-through, and inventory turns.
- Allocate capital to production and retail expansion.
Services / Ops-Heavy Models
- Track utilization, margin per contract, and territory performance.
- Allocate capital to capacity growth and client acquisition.
Expected Output
- Current burn, cash, and milestone-linked runway.
- Forward-looking forecast summary (table or chart optional).
- Tight, believable use-of-funds breakdown.
- Investor readiness cues or prior commitments.
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Optional Enhancements (Pro-Level Execution)
- Scenario Planning — Best/worst/mid-case financial models.
- Capital Efficiency Ratio — Revenue growth per $ of burn.
- Rolling 13-Week Cash Flow — Near-term cash management for high-burn phases.
- Funding Risk Map — Identify and mitigate points where cash-out risk spikes.
- Milestone-Linked Funding Tranches — Tie capital release to execution progress.