NAIL THE FINANCIAL NARRATIVE: Create a Capital Story
Advice around capital raising is often focused on “telling your story”. Having a compelling mission and thesis. We say “sure”
BUT
What a capital provider really wants is a “financial narrative” which is a story that creates an “Investment Opportunity”.
A financial narrative is built around modeling, understanding and communicating the financial characteristics of an Investment Opportunity.
Nailing the financial narrative and creating a compelling capital story is based upon having a model that uses institutional quality modeling methods.
There are a few modeling techniques that all Investment Opportunity models should include regardless of the specific opportunity.
| Model Technique | Description |
| Assumptions | Clearly identify & support model Assumptions. Assumptions should be the ONLY hard coded data in the model. Assumptions need to be supported by as much hard information as possible. Assumptions should be variable so that scenarios can be created. |
| Investment Opportunity or Summary Model | Clearly identify and summarize the Detailed Model into an Investment Opportunity. Investment Opportunity summary should highlight important business driver variables. Investment Opportunity summary should make it easy to create scenario analysis. Investment Opportunity summary should highlight capital provider outcomes |
| Business Strategy or Detailed Model | Create a defensible detailed Business Strategy modeled forecast. Business Strategy model includes relevant business drivers that “explain” forecasts. Business Strategy model should have NO hard coded cells – it should be developed from the Assumptions. Business Strategy model needs to match and summarize the business “story”. |
If you would like to discuss this further – Contact us! Or, if you or one of your clients is thinking about or has a capital opportunity – we advise on creating successful outcomes.
