Shows
The Niamh PodcastEP 106- The Jeep WaveHow Jeep used a simple wave to build solidarity amongst it's customers.2022-02-1402 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 105- Why do investors demand Preference SharesWhy do Angel Investors and VC Funds demand preference shares from a startup in return for their investment?
Because they seek a preference on receiving money before it is distributed to any other smaller investor or the Founders themselves at an exit event. This exit can be in the form of acquisition of the startup by a bigger fish, sale of intangible or tangible assets of the business or any liquidation event when the business is decided to either be passed on to someone or be wound up, and money is realised / received / collected for distribution among...2022-02-0700 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 104- MoSCoW PrincipleThe MoSCoW Principle of prioritization helps people prioritize use cases and features of a product or project in four buckets:
- Must have
- Should have
- Could have
- Won't have
These priorities are defined within the constraints of the project's
- Time
- Quality
- Cost
Must have: Non-negotiable mandatory requirements
Should have: Important initiatives that are not vital, but of significant value
Could have: Nice to have initiatives which will have small impact if left out
Won't have: Issues which there are...2022-02-0600 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 103- Covered BondsCovered Bonds
If you like fixed return investments, then excluding the FD, you have Bonds, Debentures, Debt Mutual Funds, and similar debt-backed options. Remember, how they say how risk and return are inversely correlated? So you get a much higher return in unsecured debt than you do in secured debt.
However, if God forbid, any issuer of such debt securities goes into liquidation, and the money that you've invested is in "secured" debt, there is still a possibility of you not recovering the amount after paying off all other secured lenders, tax liabilities, creditors, etc.2022-02-0507 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 102 - Ronald McDonaldRonald McDonald, a mascot many of us have memories of getting a photo clicked with. How long has it been since you spotted him outside your local McDonald's restaurant? The answer is, around 5 years!
Ronald, one of the world's most iconic mascosts was gradually phased out by McDonalds globally in 2016 because many parts of the world saw spooky and creepy clown sightings. This negative image around clowns was causing much trouble for McDonalds, and so the company decided to let go of him and keep him out of sight for a while. It's 2022, and he's still nowhere...2022-02-0401 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 101 - 2 Pizza RuleThe Two Pizza Rule
Jeff Bezos famously made the Two Pizza Rule, which states that if you can’t feed your team with just two large pizzas in a meeting, the team is too big to work efficiently.
Why?
👉 the points of communication rise exponentially as the team size does, thus slowing communication and decision making
👉 people come in each other’s way
👉 overstuffed teams tend to have a lot of people piggybacking; insincerity in taking accountability for work2022-02-0300 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 100- Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the WorkplacePrevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace
Intro to the POSH Act and the compliance necessary to ensure your organisation is at the right side of the law. Also check out @shlc_advisory ‘s page for more info on this.2022-02-0202 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 99- The 15-15-15 RuleThe 15-15-15 Rule
If you invest Rs. 15k per month for 15 years in an investment that offers 15% p.a., you accumulate Rs. 1 Crore!
This rule is often shown by Financial Advisors to explain compounding. However, the take aways from this are multiple.
1. Power of Compounding
2. Power of Consistency
3. Power of Long Term Investing
Small contributions made consistently over a long period of time can reap exceptional results. Not just in finance, but in personal development and habit building as well.
I'm trying to make these short...2022-02-0100 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 98- The Sanjana EffectWhat's a 50 second phenomenon? In 1993 Pepsi released an ad featuring Aamir khan, Mahima Chaudhary and Aishwarya Rai. Little did the makers know of the impact they would be creating on the Indian Society.
This pepsi ad that named Aishwarya's character as Sanjana, a young beautiful, modern girl- swept Indian to-be parents off their feet. What happened next, well the number of babies named Sanjana that year rose by more than double compared to the last 3 years.
So just imagine the impact that one 50 second ad created. Massive.
Sanjana Ramachandran has written a lovely article...2022-01-3101 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 97- Structuring your DatabookHow to Prepare for an Investor Due Diligence
Create a Data Room in Google Drive, Sharepoint or Dropbox with the following folders.
1. Financial (FDD): past financial statements, MIS reports, audit reports, calculations, details of assets & liabilities, expense summaries and evidences
2. Legal (LDD): Minutes of Board Meetings, General Meetings, MCA Filings, Labor Law Returns, Agreements with Vendors, Employees, Registration Documents, IP related documents, Insurances, etc
3. Tax: GST and Income Tax Returns, notices, appeals, calculations, reconciliations, etc
4. Commercial: Internal SOPs, Competitor Data, Market Analysis, Organizational Chart
It’s best to...2022-01-3001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 96- HRA: Rent to ParentsHRA tax benefit if your parent is also in the 30% bracket like you
A number of people pay rent to their parents for the purpose of claiming HRA deduction to save taxes.
However, contrary to popular belief, this also helps even if your parent receiving the rent and yourself, both are in the 30% bracket.
Only 70% of the amount received as rent by someone is taxable as they get a 30% standard deduction on the total amount of rent received. This means that despite being in the 30% bracket, your parent may end up paying only 21...2022-01-2901 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 95- Sharpe RatioSharpe Ratio
Sharpe Ratio: Measuring & Comparing Mutual Fund Risk
The Sharpe Ratio indicates how much risk was taken to generate the returns. Higher the value, it means the fund has been able to give better returns for per unit risk taken.
To calculate, subtract the risk free return (return on government bonds) from the Mutual Fund’s return, and then divide the result with the Standard Deviation of the Fund.
For example, if fund A and fund B both have 5-year returns of 15%, and fund A has a Sharpe ratio of 1.5 an...2022-01-2803 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 94- Maa Tujhe SalaamMaa Tujhe Salaam by AR Rahman released on the Golden Jubilee anniversary of India's independence and when in 2002, the BBC conducted an international poll to choose the ten most famous songs of all time "Maa Tujhe Salaam" was voted second out of 7000 songs.
Is it the fact that Rahman gave beautiful music to it, was it his voice, or was it just that the song invokes nationalism in one of the most populous countries in the world?
I think most would agree it's the nationalism. Which brings us to how several brands around the world...2022-01-2701 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 93- No Shop ClauseAre Term Sheets legally binding on Founders?
A Term Sheet could be a handshake agreement or a two pager stating terms at which an investor is putting money in a startup.
However, Term Sheets may not be legally binding on either the investor or the founders/startup till the time Definitive Agreements (Shareholders Agreement, Share Subscription Agreement, etc) are signed.
However, the following clauses can be binding and you should be cautious about them.
Confidentiality: You won’t disclose the terms to anyone else
No Shop: You won’t use...2022-01-2301 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 92: HUF for Tax PlanningHUF for Tax Planning
Discussing transferring of a family’s collective assets into an HUF for additional tax slab benefits.2022-01-2203 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 91- Business Valuation: Chicago MethodChicago Method of Valuation
This method of business valuation requires estimating all possible scenarios of a business' growth, viz. failure, conservative, most probable and aggressive.
Estimates of revenue, growth rates, expenses, discounting rates based on risk in each case are defined and projected cash flows are made for all such scenarios.
The Net Present Value (NPV) of all the scenarios is calculated and weightage is assigned to each scenario based on probability estimates.
Finally, you get the final NPV or value of the startup using a scenario planning, present value of...2022-01-2101 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 90- Precision Vs. AccuracyAccuracy Vs. Precision. What's the difference?2022-01-2000 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 89- Why do Companies register in DelawareWhy do Companies register in Delaware?
Delaware offers certain benefits to multinational coroporations and Startups looking for VC funds and an exit through an IPO to register in that state over other places in the US. Here’s evaluating benefits of tax savings, robustness of corporate laws and investor secrecy or friendliness.2022-01-1206 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 88- Setting up Delaware & Singapore entities onlineSetting up Delaware & Singapore entities online
If you want to set up an entity in Delaware USA for your startup, you should visit Clerky.com, and if it’s Singapore you want to incorporate in, visit Osome.com
Both websites are used by a number of startups to set up these offshore entities from the comfort of their homes.
To know more about why Startups open Singapore entities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrEzrHDgKuE
Why Startups register in Delaware: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtAKIaNnWdA2022-01-1100 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 87- Competition Slide in your Pitch DeckCompetition Slide in your Pitch Deck
- Build a table with each column dedicated to a company
- Keep the first column to yourself and go rightwards in decreasing priority order
- The rows define the benefits you deliver and not the features
- Start with your biggest value proposition as the top row and go down in preferential order
- Fill in the grid with quantitative data and not qualitative description
- For example, if your delivery time is the fastest, quantify how fast and show that others are slower through...2022-01-1004 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 86- Referral rewards may= Less profitabilityAccording to a research dated October, 2020 it's very important to choose the size of your referral incentives. Why? Less loyal customers who buy from you just because of the incentives you give to them may end up being less profitable in the long run. Here's why.2022-01-0801 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 85- Cheque payments to be account PayeeAccount Payee Cheques: Maintain Proof
It’s become essential for your business to keep proof of the fact that your payments in cheque are through account payee instruments and not through bearer cheques2022-01-0703 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 84- Top 15 Angel NetworksLook for Angel Networks, not Angel Investors
While looking for Angel Investments for your business, remember that Angels mostly operate in groups. Each of these networks has several members who meet periodically, maybe monthly or quarterly, where the shortlisted startups are presented on Pitch Days or Demo Days, and discussed among investors for possible investment by a few of the interested members.
The kind of money raised from angels is typically within the range of Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 2 crores, in total, with each angel putting in an amount upwards of Rs. 5 lakhs.
...2022-01-0601 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 83- National Saving Certificate (NSC)National Saving Certificate (NSC)
Possibly the most risk free investment for a 5 year period with a tax free return of 6.8%, it may suit the long term investment needs of those for whom risky investments are best avoided and who can benefit out of the extensive post office network across the remotest parts of India2022-01-0503 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 82- Tabasco: 720 Drops of Pepper SauceThe story of how a gift of pepper seeds has now dominated the world, with the Tabasco- The hot pepper sauce.2022-01-0406 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 81- BANT Framework to Qualify Potential SalesBANT Framework to Qualify Potential Sales
BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing - the four criteria on which sales teams focus while evaluating and prioritizing leads to set the right energies on high conversion possibilities.
- Does the prospect have the budget to fit our offerings?
- Does the person have the authority to influence the buying decision?
- Does the prospect have an immediate need that gets fulfilled by the product?
- Do they need a solution now or in the future?
I thought it's a neat...2022-01-0300 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 80- Investor Communication TemplateInvestor Communication Template
Sending Investor Updates before Fundraising
People begin communicating with potential investors right before needing to raise funds, and after raising funds because of mandatory reporting requirements of the Shareholders Agreements.
However, it is good fundraising practice to keep all potential investors updated about your progress continuously, even 12-18 months before you think of raising funds, and that too consistently.
Well-written updates signal to investors that you as the founder can consistently make plans for the future, execute on them, and report results. All investors want good deals and...2022-01-0202 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 79- Why is Million written as MMWhen startup founders receive investor term sheets, they wonder why Million is written as MM (say, $3MM).
M is the Roman numeral for 1000. So MM is 1000 multipled by 1000 = 1 Million2022-01-0100 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 78- 3 Ways to fix Keyword CannibalizationLearn what keyword cannibalization is and 3 ways to fix it.2021-12-3101 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 77- Eligibility to become an Angel Investor in IndiaQualifications to be an Eligible Angel Investor (according to SEBI and Income Tax)
1. Has net tangible assets of at least Rs. 2 crores (excluding the value of his principal residence)
2. Has experience in any of the following forms:
a) early-stage investment experience; or
b) as a serial entrepreneur; or
c) is a senior management professional with 10+ years of experience
3. The Income Tax department also expects such a person to have an average returned income of at least Rs. 25 lakhs in the previous 3 financial years.2021-12-2400 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 76- Investing in stocksAnalyse the Financial Statements of a Company for investing in Stocks
Read their Annual Report as available online and do a financial ratio analysis.2021-12-2302 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 75- SFT FilingIf your company has raised capital of over Rs. 10 lakhs in the previous financial year, you may have to file a return of Specified Financial Transactions (SFT) in Form 61A with the Income Tax Department before 31st May 2021.
Any delay may lead to a penalty of Rs. 500 per day.
Read more: http://www.casahuja.com/2021/05/specified-financial-transactions-sft.html2021-12-2200 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 74 - 4 Golden Principles of Logo DesignDesigning a logo for your Start-Up? Here are 4 golden principles of logo design that you should refer to.2021-12-2101 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 73- EDLIEDLI - Employee Deposit Linked Insurance
If you know anyone who has passed away due to COVID-19 and was in active employment, their family and legal heirs may be eligible to receive a minimum of Rs. 2.5 lakhs and max up to Rs. 7 lakhs (updated Sep 2020) under the Employee Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme.
If they were covered under PF with the EPFO, they were by default signed up for this life insurance cover.
The legal heirs may have to file a Form 5 IF with the EPF Commissioner, countersigned by the employer.
...2021-12-2002 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 72- 3 Essentials of a Pitch DeckA VC Fund takes 3 Risks while deciding to invest in a startup idea.
1. Product Risk: Is the product good enough to solve an existing problem efficiently
2. Team Risk: Does the Founding Team have executional capability to scale
3. Market Risk: Is the market promising enough to deliver a 100x return on the investment
Leave pitch desks aside, an in-depth understanding of these 3 factors is possibly the most essential part of building a working, scalable business model.2021-12-1900 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 71- Tag along and Drag along rightsTag Along Rights & Drag Along Rights
Investors in Startups take a lot of preferential rights over the Founders and other smaller shareholders as part of the Shareholders Agreement. Among all, here's specifically explaining Tag Along Rights & Drag Along Rights.
Tag Along Rights
These rights allow an investor or shareholder (incl. Founders) to tag along with another bigger shareholder, who may be negotiating a deal of sale of his shares in the company. This means that the new buyer of shares may have to purchase shares of not just the shareholder negotiating the deal, but...2021-12-1802 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 70- Handwritten Vs. Machine style fontsHere's how you can use handwritten fonts to improve the connect with your customer.2021-12-1701 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 69- KPI and OKRKey Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to quantify and measure improvement across already established processes in your business.
However, if processes are yet to be set up in your business, a good starting point to learn how to set quantifiable and qualitative goals for efficient measurement would be through OKRs: Objectives & Key Results.
The best resource on this subject is the book Measure What Matters by John Doerr: https://www.amazon.in/Measure-What-Matters-John-Doerr/dp/024134848X2021-12-1300 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 68- PRISM- Govt. Grant for New TechnologyPRISM- Govt. Grant for New Technology2021-12-1202 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 67- Co-Founders AgreementOver 62% of high potential start-ups are said to fail because of a Co-Founder fallout, which is why it's essential to include the following clauses in your Co-Founders' Agreement (CFA) right from the start.
1. Ownership in Equity
2. Decision Making and Board Seat
3. Roles & Responsibilities
4. Ownership of Intellectual Property
5. Dilution in case of future fund-raise
6. Exit clauses
7. Vesting of shares
8. Dispute resolution
9. Non-compete
10. Restrictions on transfer of shares
11. Remuneration2021-12-1100 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 66- The importance of good customer serviceCustomer service is not a cost centre but in fact a profit centre. If done well, this service has the capacity to reap profits for your business many times over. Here's why.
2021-12-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 65- 3 Sales insights for Start-up FoundersSales Insights for Startup Founders
1. Only 2.5% of the people (early adopters) may actually be interested in using your product which is a new launch and has not much of a proven track records - which means it’s a numbers game
2. Good sales people talk 30% of the time and let the prospect talk 70%, while themselves just asking questions to understand the prospect’s problems - Use this product called Uber Conference to analyse how long you talked
3. Don’t do Free Trials: Instead say that if you’re not satisfied within x days, you’ll g...2021-12-0602 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 64- Co-founders AgreementOver 62% of high potential start-ups are said to fail because of a Co-Founder fallout, which is why it's essential to include the following clauses in your Co-Founders' Agreement (CFA) right from the start.
1. Ownership in Equity
2. Decision Making and Board Seat
3. Roles & Responsibilities
4. Ownership of Intellectual Property
5. Dilution in case of future fund-raise
6. Exit clauses
7. Vesting of shares
8. Dispute resolution
9. Non-compete
10. Restrictions on transfer of shares
11. Remuneration2021-12-0500 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 63- Churn Rate and Bounce RateUnderstanding why users have left the system and are not making more purchases from your business help in finding the deficiencies in your product, sales funnel or after sales and plug such gaps to improve the LTV per customer.
Compare the Churn Rate and Bounce Rate with that available for competitors and industry benchmarks.2021-12-0400 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 62- How to place luxury products on your ads for better impactA few handy tips you can use to make your product ads more impactful. 2021-12-0301 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 61 - TReDSTReDS - Trade Receivables Discounting System
It's an electronic platform set up to facilitate this option of invoice discounting (factoring) or working capital financing facility to MSME suppliers, who deal with large corporate houses, government departments or PSUs, and have signed long credit terms with their customers, of say, over 30 days.
Participants on these platforms are Sellers, Buyers, and Financers. Sellers need to be MSME entities with valid Udyam registration. Buyers must be large corporate houses, and Financers are banks and NBFCs.
On completion of registration at any of the three available portals...2021-12-0204 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 60- FAST AgreementThe FAST Agreement, or the Founder Advisor Standard Template, is a good draft for Founders to use while thinking of the terms to engage an Advisor or Mentor on.
It helps think through the number of hours you want an Advisor to devote, milestones and deliverables for them to help with, and how their compensation should be structured in the form of Restricted Shares, Phantom Stock, or Share Appreciation Rights.
Such equity compensation varies for every stage of a startup, and you'd hope you haven't promised someone a great chunk of equity without having clearly...2021-12-0100 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 59- ESOPsCliff: The minimum period to be employed with the company to earn any ESOPs at all (eg 1 year)
Vesting Period: The period over which the ESOPs are being earned by the employee (eg 4 years)
Thus, if a person has 100 ESOPs over 4 year vesting and a 1 year cliff with quarterly vesting, the employee may earn ESOPs as follows:
At the end of Year 1: 25
Quarterly in Year 2: 6, 6, 6, 7
Similarly in Year 3 and 4
Such vesting can also be monthly or half yearly instead of quarterly.
Exercise Price: The price...2021-11-3007 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 58- The 'Sold Out' EffectUsing Sold Out Inventory on Your Online Store to Boost Sales
Did you know that by ensuring that at least 10-30% of the stocks listed on your online store are "sold out", you can boost e-commerce sales by approx ~30%
This insight is based on an experiment carried out in April 2021, which showed that online shoppers perceive higher quality of products listed on an online store if they see that a few other products (possibly color options) are sold out and not available.
However, the impact is an inverted U. So, if more than 30...2021-11-2901 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 57- Vesting and CliffVesting of shares is when a person earns his right to ownership in the company by continuously working over a period of time. And a Cliff is the minimum duration one needs to work to own any shares at all.
These concepts are prevalent for ESOPs and funded startups. However, they hold equal or probably more importance in bootstrapped businesses where say, two friends get together to start a venture.
Only if partners in non-funded businesses were to also be aware of how to use these tools to their benefit to avoid future conflict and...2021-11-2503 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 56- What is the MOAT in your businessMoat refers to the deep trench around a castle that protects it from enemies.
In the start-up world, the word is now popularly used to mean a key competitive advantage that sets a company apart from its competitors.
Companies can build moats by strengthening their brands, achieving economies of scale, or even lobbying for special status from the government. In return, they can receive customer loyalty, pricing power, and legal protections that make it difficult for other companies to compete with them.
This link might make for a good read: https://www.cbinsights...2021-11-2400 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 55- Why do Tech Companies set up their entities in Ireland?Why do Tech Companies set up their entities in Ireland?
1. Corporate Tax Rate: 12.5%
2. R&D Tax Credit: 25% spend on R&D is deductible from corporate tax
Geographically between USA and Europe.
Free Trade Zone & IPR Focus: 600 acre next to the airport with no local taxes, and custom duties of manufacturing and assembly here. It was almost like the world's first and largest duty free zone. Plus, strong IPR laws attracted companies such as Intel, Sony and others who were manufacturing small items, but highly valued such as computer chips, and DeBeers...2021-11-2304 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 54 - Finding your brand's voiceA simple framework to help you define your brand's voice and make it stand out.
- Characteristics, Description, Do's and Don'ts
2021-11-2201 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 53- Equity Split between co-foundersEquity Split between Co-founders
While deciding on equity split between co-founders, inequities in holding arise due to the following reasons:
- One is older or more experienced than the other
- One thought of the idea and the other joined months later to help with execution
- One raised a few lakhs from angel investors before getting the other on board
- One took a few months of salary while the other did not
- One built the MVP and the other came in after
...2021-11-1702 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 52- Wisdom of the crowdsEarly Stage Startup Valuations
Wisdom of the Crowds is how Early Stage Startups are valued
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), First Chicago, VC Method are all used for late stage funding (Series B and onwards), or only for the purpose of statutory compliance in early stage valuations.
Transaction Comparables are more suited to determine Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A valuations, which are adjusted using the following factors.
- Stage of the Company
- Competition with Other Funding Sources
- Experience of the Entrepreneurs and Leadership Team
...2021-11-1602 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 51- Salaries to tech teamsSalaries paid to your Tech Team during development of the product may be capitalised instead of being charged as a revenue expense on your P&L2021-11-1500 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 50- Kama Ayurveda: A beauty concept touching Indian rootsHow Kama Ayurveda beat all odds in the 2020 pandemic and established itself as one of the leading Ayurvedic skincare brands in India2021-11-1404 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 49 - Automate Your Cap TableAfter a startup raises at least two rounds and has multiple types of securities, all converting with different conditions, and with an established ESOP scheme, the cap tables can get really messy. Moreover, managing cap tables on Excel in this day and age seems sub-optimal.
To find a solution to this problem, I recently found a demo'ed this product called Qapmap by Qapita.
I think it's a gorgeous product to not just understand your fully diluted cap table, but also do a sensitivity analysis on what would be the dilution at what level of valuation...2021-11-1103 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 48- Equity Linked Saving Schemes (ELSS)Equity Linked Saving Schemes: Tax saving investment that invests in equities on your behalf2021-11-1002 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 47- Valuation certificates required by start ups during fundraiseValuation certificates required by start ups during fundraise2021-11-0900 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 46- The Amul Girl: India's Golden GirlThe story of the Amul Girl's first few ads that have led her to claim a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for what is believed to be the World's longest running outdoor advertising campaign.2021-11-0804 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 45- 3 Metrics: Product Marketing FitMeasuring Product Market Fit (PMF)
PMF is making something that a lot of people want. Primarily measured in terms of:
- value creation by solving a problem better than others
- repeated use turning it to user habit
- high word of mouth referral
In the process of product development, i.e. idea > prototyping > launch > traction > monetization > growth, "Traction" is the stage where you may get measurable data to analyze how well you've achieved product market fit, or if you need to go back and improve on your idea or prototype.
2021-11-0502 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 44- How to calculate break even pointHow to Calculate Break Even Point2021-11-0200 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 43- Predict the health of your businessPredict the Health of Your Business- Do not use short term funds for long term assets2021-11-0101 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 42: Routine compliance all entrepreneurs should knowCompliance that all Entrepreneurs should know- All Entrepreneurs must build an internal tracker for monthly/quarterly compliance under GST, TDS and for MCA filings so that there are no interest or penalty costs paid for delay in such filings.
TDS Payment - Deposit by 7th of the subsequent month; 1 month buffer for year end
GST Payment - Pay by 20th of the subsequent month; file invoices by 11th
Income Tax - Annual Filing by July (non-audit) or Sep (audit cases)
MCA Filings - Annual Return of Financial Statements, Shareholding & Directors2021-10-3108 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 41- Bata: The overseas brand of IndiaGrowing up, Bata shoes have been a faithful companion to many Indian school going kids. This is the story of how the famous shoe company found it's way into the country, and then dominated the Indian shoe industry.2021-10-3003 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 40- Non Performing Assets (NPA)How to identify the Non Performing Assets in your business and monetise them2021-10-2900 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 39- Startup Funding: How much money are you looking to raise?How much money are you looking to raise?
How much funds do you need to raise in your next round of funding?
Instead of defining the amount of capital you need to raise in a round based on how much runway it can get you (i.e. 18-24 months of net burn), link your fundraising to fundable milestones that are inflection points to generate value in your startup.
- Working prototype
- Minimum Viable Product
- Product release
- North Star metric thresholds such as X worth of MRR or...2021-10-2803 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 38- 5 Indicators to check for Financial Fraud5 Forensic Indicators to Detect Financial Misrepresentation or Mismanagement
1) Percentage of miscellaneous expenses as a proportion to total revenue
2) Change in Reserves unexplained by Profit/Loss for the year and Dividends
3) Provision for Doubtful Debt as a proportion of Debtors outstanding for over 6 months
4) Growth in Auditors’ Remuneration vis-a-vis growth in revenues
5) Change in method of calculting depreciation
Bonus Tips
6) Trend in Ratio of Capital Work in Progress to Gross Block
7) Contingent Liabilities as a Percentage of Total Net Worth
8) Volatility in no...2021-10-2701 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 37- Rooh Afza: The birth story of the ruby hued sherbatA syrup that has lasted for more than 115 years and is till date undefeated by many carbonated drinks in the market. Here is the story of the birth of Rooh Afza, one of India's favourite and most versatile drinks.2021-10-2603 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 36: VC Debt Funds for StartupsVC Debt Funds for Startups
When can your startup think of raising Venture Debt funds?
Suitability
- Already raised Series A round (typically between 20 to 30 crores or USD 4 to 5 Mn)
- Approx 15-18 months to go for Series B fundraise
- Unit economic positive with a net positive contribution margin
Use of funds
- Working Capital financing
- New product or vertical development
- Not for expensive hire in management or marketing burn
Benefits
- No dilution in equity or addition to cap table2021-10-2507 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 35- 6 Thinking hats model for decision makingSix Thinking Hats Model for Decision Making
Making business decisions requires considering several perspectives to cover all aspects and pros/cons. Six Thinking Hats is a model created by Edward de Bono to do just that.
I, personally, remember it through the mnemonic "PED-PCD"
1/ 🟡 Yellow Hat - Positivity: Looking at the benefits of the decision, and the opportunities it brings.
2/ 🟢 Green Hat - Creativity: Think of alternatives of doing the same without censoring any idea yet, and note down all possible solutions, no matter how silly they all sound.
3/ 🔴 Red Hat...2021-10-2401 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 34- Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)
The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) aims to provide funding to early-stage startups (not older than 2 years) through registered incubators in the following two ways:
1. Grant of up to Rs. 20 lakhs for proof of concept, prototype development, product testing, commercial feasibility
2. Convertible Debt of up to Rs. 50 lakhs for a 5-year term at repo rates, for commercialization of the product and go to market
The funds shall be disbursed through empaneled incubators, and startups shall apply on the Startup India portal by selecting any three...2021-10-2306 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 33- Haldiram: The Rise of the Bhujia BaronsWhat started off as a small shop in Bikaner, India, has now become a multi-million company. From selling packets of Bhujia to selling a wide variety of Indian snacks and sweets, here's the story of Haldiram. A story of how ordinary men achieved extraordinary success.
2021-10-2205 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 32 - Innovation FunnelThe Innovation Funnel is a mechanism that brings a continuous stream of innovative ideas and prototypes, which can be screened for viability.
While Startups are already generating new products, traditional businesses need to look at developing a New Product Development Department in their company and setting up an Innovation Funnel could be the first step.2021-10-2000 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 31- Steps in the fundraising processSteps in the Startup Fundraising Process: From Term Sheets to Due Diligence to SSA-SHA to MGT-14 to PAS-3, discussing all the steps in the fundraising process of a startup2021-10-1408 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 30: Estonia's unique tax structureWhat is unique about Estonia’s tax structure?
👉Tax @ 20%
- Corporate Tax: 20%
- Personal Tax: 20%
- VAT: 20% (if annual turnover > EUR 40k)
👉No tax if profits are retained and not distributed by a company
👉No dividend tax, so no double taxation
👉Only fixed monthly expense paid to the the government is in the form of a PF, which constitutes a few sub heads such as Unemployment Tax, Social Tax and Pension Fund
👉Zero Bureaucracy Policy
- Company set up cost EUR ~400
- Set up time < >
- Real t...2021-10-1401 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 29- Competition slide in your pitch deckCompetition Slide in your Pitch Deck
- Build a table with each column dedicated to a company
- Keep the first column to yourself and go rightwards in decreasing priority order
- The rows define the benefits you deliver and not the features
- Start with your biggest value proposition as the top row and go down in preferential order
- Fill in the grid with quantitative data and not qualitative description
- For example, if your delivery time is the fastest, quantify how fast and show that others are slower through...2021-10-1404 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 28- Tesco: The world's first virtual supermarketThe story behind launching the world’s first virtual store. A concept that helped time-pressed commuters shop on the go, simply by using their smartphones.2021-10-1404 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 27 - CSR activities and quick action needed by not for profit organisationsCSR Activities and Not for Profits : Not for Profits need to register from 1st April 2021 with the Central Government if they wish to continue receiving funds from corporate donors.2021-10-1302 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 26- Monetary value of an Instagram accountValuing an Instagram Account
I was in the middle of a business valuation when I realised a great deal of the value was locked in the enterprise’s social media accounts and the sales that drive from this marketing channel. So we got on to valuing an entire Instagram account as part of business valuations. Here’s discussing our findings. Shout out to @angelique.raina for her insights.2021-10-1305 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 25- Beachhead MarketBeachhead Market
When new businesses launch, they may be entering markets with already established players that have a huge loyalty and market share. In such a scenario, the beachhead market is the easiest to capture market with least resistance for a new business, after which the business slowly enters into deeper markets, fortifying its ground as it moves forward.
Essentially, picking a niche and first creating a stronghold in such niche before moving forward to serving other customers.
The term comes from the military where when they would have to capture a territory...2021-10-1301 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 24 - Starbucks: The Frappuccino EffectHaving a Starbucks near your home is great for a quick coffee break. But do you know the effect this brings along for home owners? Listen to know about the interesting correlation between real estate prices and Starbucks.
2021-10-1302 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 23 - Phantom StockPhantom Stock or Share Appreciation Rights: One way of giving advisors a sense of ownership in helping develop your start up.2021-10-1003 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 22 - Revenue Based Financing (RBF) for Startups using SEALThere are startups, which have profitable business models and just need one round of funding to achieve a certain milestone, after which the profits would be sufficient to keep the business afloat and to fuel growth. For example, a few software or SaaS companies.
If such startups take VC funding, they tend to get caught up in the loop of raising further rounds of funding only to keep inflating their valuations for finding an exit opportunity for their initial investors.
If a founder wants to avoid this cycle of raising premature capital every few months...2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 21- Do you really know your cost of Capital?Cost of Capital: Most entrepreneurs mistake in calculating their actual cost of capital. Here’s a course correction.2021-10-1002 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 20 - Michelin: Why a tyre company started reviewing restaurantsWe all know about the famous Michelin stars. But do you know why the Tyre company started reviewing restaurants in the first place? Here's a brief on how and why Michelin established itself as a fine dining authority.2021-10-1003 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 19 - Startup Fundraising using KISSStartup Fundraising using KISS
KISS stands for Keep It Simple Security, which is a type of Convertible Note instrument proposed by the accelerator, 500 Startups, a year after Y Combinator released its SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) documents - which aimed to achieve the same objective - that is help early-stage startups raise funds quickly by deferring the negotiation on valuation to the next round of financing.
KISS tries and plugs the following matters which are missing (purposely) from the SAFE:
- Maturity Date: KISS is converted automatically on Maturity Date if there is...2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 18- Building business entities other than a private limitedDifferent business entities other than a Company Discussing the costs of incorporating all different types of entities and the merits, demerits of all.2021-10-1007 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 17- Why Companies Go for an IPOWhy do Companies go for an IPO?
The Indian stock markets are ripe with IPOs this year of both VC funded startups and other businesses. However, in which situations do companies decide to go for an IPO?
1. Capital Expenditure for Expansion: raising money for huge capital expenditure in fixed assets to increase capacity or expand current operations significantly
2. Repayment of Debt: Paying off heavy debts which may have cumulated over the years and the interest cost may also be creating a burden
3. Provide exit opportunity to Investors: as in the case...2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 16- Uber: How the world's most valuable start-up came into beingThe story of how the idea of a modern ride-sharing service has now become the world’s most followed companies.2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 15 - Stamp duty on Share CertificatesStamp Duty on Share Certificates- Very common non-compliance found during Due Diligence and how to manage it in time.2021-10-1004 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 14 - Contribution Margin CM1 and CM2Contribution Margin 1 and Contribution Margin 2
Most people understand Gross Profit or Contribution Margin as Sales - Variable Costs. However, when we build MIS for startups, there are two levels of Contribution Margin you need to look at to assess unit level profitability.
Contribution Margin 1 (CM1) = Sales - Variable Costs
CM1 has to be positive right from your first sale.
CM2 = CM1 - Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
CM2 may be negative for the first couple of years when a tech startup maybe spending heavily on marketing to get app installs...2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 13- Equity dilution based on exit valuationForecast Your Fundraise based on Exit Valuation
Factors to consider to determine dilution of founder’s equity at current Fundraise include exit valuation target, multiple in the industry, total raise needed in current round of funding, revenue and burn rate at raise, expected growth and timelines at which next rounds of funding are expected.2021-10-1003 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 12- Spotify: The magical merger of Music and TechnologyThe story of how trial and error, success and failure gave birth to the streaming app Spotify.2021-10-1002 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 11- The B2B2C Business ModelIf you're a Consumer based startup, think of your primary sales channel as B2B2C in the first few years, where you reach the Customers of another existing Business instead of finding your own Customers.
This helps reduce Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) drastically and can be the best channel to adopt if you don't have sufficient funds for huge marketing expenses initially.
Remember, this is different from white labelling and you're not selling under the brand of the other Business; but just using their platform or presence to market your own products in your...2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 9- 4 Parameters to analyze at a startup exitStartups are Bought, Not Sold: 4 Parameters to Optimize at the Time of Startup Exit
When startups end up burning a lot of money raised across rounds and they're still unable to generate sufficient traction or market penetration, there comes a time for an exit as raising any more capital may be out of the question. Most often than not, an exit in these cases may be in the form of an acquisition by either a competitor or someone else in the value chain.
However, businesses are bought, and not sold.
This means that...2021-10-1001 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 8- Netflix: The birth of the OTT giantHow a rent-by-mail company has established itself to become the world's leading streaming entertainment service.2021-10-1002 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 10- Building KPIs - Primary and SecondaryBuilding KPIs
How to define the Primary KPI for your business?
1. Measure delivery of True Value: "Revenue". If product not monetized, then "Active Users"
2. Determine recurrence: Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and Daily Active Users (DAU)
3. Pick a lagging indicator for success: sale already occurred rather than a possibility of sale in the future, such as email sign ups or app downloads
4. Track weekly MIS over monthly
Secondary Metrics: Pick any 2-3 in addition to Primary KPI depending on business model:
Retention, Revenue Churn, CAC, Payback Period, NPS, Email Conversion...2021-10-1002 min
The Niamh PodcastEP 7- Sukanya Samridhi YojanaSukanya Samridhi Yojana- Please ask your domestic help or driver or the less privileged around you to save for their daughters in this scheme.2021-10-1003 min