Recommended: a trip to the Leica Gallery to see a show of images from Obama’s Presidency by Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer.
The Obama Presidency – A Look Behind the Scenes, by Pete Souza at Leica Gallery
Also recommended, especially if you can’t make it to the show, check out the White House’s Flickr, the best Flickr stream out there.
Tomorrow I’m teaching the first of two classes about the Essentials of Startup Finance at General Assembly. Help an entrepreneur out: entrepreneurs, what’s the biggest thing you wish you had known about finance when you started your company?
Tomorrow I’m teaching the first class of my two-class series at General Assembly about the Essentials of Startup Finance. As I worked on finalizing my topics and slides for tomorrow, I had an idea: I’ve got a good idea on what I need to cover, but why don’t I ask you?
Entrepreneurs, what’s the biggest thing you wish you had known about finance when you started your company?
Think of the things you wish you had known at the beginning:
Leave your answers in the comments below or tweet me @tdavidson with #gastartupfinance, and I’ll work to cover them in my classes. Thanks for helping out all the entrepreneurs taking the class!
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What am I covering in the class? Here’s the details for both classes:
Essentials of Startup Finance // BUSINESS 169
Taylor Davidson, Senior Associate, kbs+p Ventures
Dates and times: First session meets on Wednesday, June 8th from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm. Second session meets on 6/15.
Session I (6/8): Finance Fundamentals for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs often face a myriad of financial issues and questions, but don’t have a background in economics or finance. Whether pitching to investors, making payroll, or understanding their business model, participants can use this session as a primer on the fundamental vocabulary, concepts, and frameworks required to understand the finance side of their business.
This session will be an introduction to the basic principles of finance. Topics to be covered include include unit economics, financial statements, capital structure, equity and debt, and relevant financial metrics and ratios. Prerequisites: None.
Session II (6/15): Financial Modeling for Entrepreneurs
Yes, financial models are always wrong. But it’s important to create one anyway. Creating a financial model is less about being right or wrong, and more about going through the process of detailing how a business “works.” The result – a set of financial statements, key operational metrics, and a set of key drivers and assumptions – creates a map for to explore how tactical product, marketing, organizational, and strategic decisions impact a company’s profitability. Such a model will help determine key milestones, capital needs, and types of potential investors.
This session will focus on building financial models in Excel (or similar spreadsheet programs). Students will learn how to turn the business model from a mental to a financial model by building out assumptions, costs, revenues, and financial statements using structured approaches. Students can bring their own financial model or start with a template Excel model to be provided during the class. Prerequisites: Finance Fundamentals for Entrepreneurs, or requisite knowledge. Students are expected to have a passing familiarity with Excel.
Hello, I'm Taylor. I'm an early-stage VC at kbs+ Ventures and a professional business photographer at Narratively. I love projects, big ideas, and little adventures. This blog is a mixture of writing and photography, as well as curated greatness from around the web. See the archives.