There's software called Palo Alto Business Plan Pro, available for $99 I think or illegally. It will do all the numerical calculations involved in a business plan. You can use it to crank out a bullshit business plan in an hour.
Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
11–20 of 28 posts
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#12Sequoia has some interesting bullet points (right side of page): http://www.sequoiacap.com/ideas/ Granted, most online business won't meet all of those requirements, but they also aren't likely to be funded by Sequoia.
use that like an outline then make your slidedeck:
Company Purpose
* Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence.
* Describe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer).
* Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.
* Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better.
* Show where your product physically sits.
* Provide use cases.
* Set-up the historical evolution of your category.
* Define recent trends that make your solution possible.
* Identify/profile the customer you cater to.
* Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up) and SOM.
* List competitors
* List competitive advantages
* Product line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property).
* Development roadmap.
* Revenue model
* Pricing
* Average account size and/or lifetime value
* Sales & distribution model
* Customer/pipeline list
* Founders & Management
* Board of Directors/Board of Advisors
* P&L
* Balance sheet
* Cash flow
* Cap table
* The dealRe: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#13From what I understand, VC's and Angels in tech startups don't use business plans. They use a 10-15 slide PowerPoint deck, and the elevator pitch, or a 15-30 second pitch.
If you're building a web product, and you're in a tech hub like the Valley, Boston, NYC, Austin, etc... I wouldn't bother with a business plan. If you're not in a tech center, I'd bet you're going to have a hard time raising funding with or without a business plan, but YMMV.
If you're gung ho on a business plan, the "Business Plans for Dummies" is a decent start. SCORE: http://www.score.org/index.html offices usually have a lot of good resources on business plans, bus. plan writing software you can use, etc... They would probably have someone who would be willing to look the plan over and critique it for you. And, I know it was mentioned elsewhere, but the Small Business Administration has a lot of resources for small businesses: http://www.sba.gov/ You also might want to try your local chamber of commerce as well. If you're in a smaller/mid-size city, business people are probably going to be your sources of funding, so you might as well go where they are and start networking. You could make your business plan and ask for a critique from a couple of them and see if it gets you anywhere.
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#14There are a few good brief articles up on Guy Kawasaki's VC firm's site (Garage Technology Ventures). The most memorable points from the articles were:
1. The purpose of a business plan / pitch is to sell your company to an investor, not just describe it. (This is a pretty self-evident point, but it's helpful to hear from my perspective as a hacker who's usually very interested in how things work, and sometimes needs to take a step back to think about those kinds of issues.)
2. Don't try to fool an investor - they see hundreds of business plans a year, and already know all the tricks out there. Just be honest and rely on the merits of your product / team / strategy. If you have a good idea and a plausible way for it to be successful, you've already got all you need. (Another simple idea, but it's nice to hear from an investor that honesty is appreciated, and that a hacker with good communication skills has a chance against a smooth-talking MBA.)
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#15http://www.paulgraham.com/vwplan.html
We used that as a model when we wrote our first business plan.
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#16From what I understand, VC's and Angels in tech startups don't use business plans. They use a 10-15 slide PowerPoint deck, and the elevator pitch, or a 15-30 second pitch. If you're building a web product, and you're in a tech hub like the Valley, Boston, NYC, Austin, etc... I wouldn't bother with a business plan. If you're not in a tech center, I'd bet you're going to have a hard time raising funding with or without…
"If you're building a web product, and you're in a tech hub like the Valley, Boston, NYC, Austin, etc... I wouldn't bother with a business plan. If you're not in a tech center, I'd bet you're going to have a hard time raising funding with or without a business plan, but YMMV."
What sucks is I'm not in a hub or really anywhere near one. I'm hoping to find something/someone locally who is willing to fund me (and my co-founder) enough to get to one. Until then... I keep hacking.
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#17If you want a book, the best one I've read (and over time, I've read more than my fair share) is "Business Plans that Win $$$": http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060913916/
It looks old and outdated and cheesy. But while it is from 1987, the differentiating principles are the same ones that you hear echoed by pg, 37signals, Sequoia, etc. Sound business principles (the kind that an investor who has not drunk of the kool-aid, yet, should possess and be looking for) have not changed in those years. The book pushes you to answer the same hard questions that a good investor will, and position your plan in the best possible light.
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#18I've used the PwC format for a class that I've taken in entrepreneurship. As people have mentioned, the usefulness of a business plan varies depending on what you're doing. However, if you can write a good one, it really forces you to think things out well.
http://www.pwcv2rform.com/cgi-local/hcregister.cgi?link=pdf/...
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#19There are many, many books on the subject. They're all fairly standard. Go to your bookstore and get the one you prefer.
Daniel
Re: Ask YC: Writing a business plan?
#20If you want a book, the best one I've read (and over time, I've read more than my fair share) is "Business Plans that Win $$$": http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060913916/ It looks old and outdated and cheesy. But while it is from 1987, the differentiating principles are the same ones that you hear echoed by pg, 37signals, Sequoia, etc. Sound business principles (the kind that an investor who has not drunk of the kool-aid,…
No doubt - that is one awesome book. I have purchased copies for friends and they've all come back mclovin it.