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Alok's Posts / Dhandhekibaat / Essentials

Basic Valuation and Funding Concepts.

By Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal on 49 Comments / 35671 views

Are you puzzled by Basic Valuation and Funding Concepts? Don’t understand the many financial terms that regularly appear all over the place? Relax, you’ve come to the right place.

Background – Why this template?

I have spent twenty long years ideating and creating new business ideas and then pitching them for funding. When I started up, there were no understanding of the basics of Valuations and Funding, their Concepts, what they meant and how you could navigate them! This is my attempt to make some sense of the madness 🙂

Understanding the Basic Valuations and Funding Concepts is NOT hard or confusing:

Given the lack of clarity on these terms, entrepreneurs and startups get stressed and do not have the tools to help themselves. Valuations have existed from Time Immemorial (How did Barter work otherwise?). These are basic concepts that combine common sense and a bit of understanding finance basics.

The Basic Valuations and Funding Concepts Deck:

To make it easy for entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts,  and anyone ready to learn, I’m happy to present my version of a “Basic Valuations and Funding Concepts”. The slide deck has a real-world example inside. I have used all these principles for my current and most successful business –Games2win !

What’s inside:

Basics Valuation and Funding Concepts:

  • Valuations – How is it calculated?
  • Pre-Money Valuations
  • Post Money Valuations
  • Dilution

View directly on Google Slides and Download


IMPORTANT:

There is a BASIC deck for Funding and Valuations. There are far more sophisticated methods and explanations about this vast topic! I’ve used this deck (and so have many others) and found it very satisfactory (Read comments). I suggest you examine as many references as possible and decide which one to use.

I would encourage you to connect with me in the event that you do not understand any of the slides inside.

I can be found here:

This presentation can be downloaded by clicking on the image below!

Click the image to download the presentation via Google Slides

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49 Comments

  1. Great read! Simple,easy to understand and no complicated jargons or acronyms!

  2. Thank you boss

  3. Thank you so much Alok for writing and sharing this 🙂

  4. Simplicity at its best. Being from a non-business background, really had hard times when I first put my hands on learning these basics. You should think of turning all these awesome PPTs in to Coffee table books one day, they will benefit people more than the coffee for sure 🙂

  5. Great post Alok. Just at the time when I thought about reading an article on this. Simple, time saving, excellent!

  6. Great Piece Alok.
    This is way too easy and inclusive for the amateurs and the professionals, both.

    Awaiting you share on the other topics !!!

  7. Nice Presentation and easy to understand…Thanks!!

  8. Ah, what I didn’t understand after 4 finance papers in MBA I understood in a ppt!! Thanks a lot sir..

  9. Easy and simple to understand, waiting for the next additions.

  10. simple to under stand Alok, thanks for the presentation

  11. Easily explained. Waiting for the next version.

    Thanks for sharing.

  12. Perfect! you just made my morning.. 

    Need more simple definitions of funding to understand deep and clear

  13. Good stuff Alok! 

    Strange coincidence, I actually sat down with a potential hire for 3 hours couple of days ago to explain what equity financing is all about, and what he might be getting into if he signs up for something at any startup. 🙂

    I feel a good topic for next deck could be on cap tables; also may be touch upon terms like cliff, vesting, pro-rata, voting rights etc. 

    Also sent a slightly detailed email as requested.

  14. Dear Alok

    Funding explained in simple terms. Awesome work.

    Regards

    Parthiban

  15. Excellent Alok sir:)

  16. Simplified finance gyan. Great flow of thoughts.

  17. As usual great !! when one says simplicity in superb ideas & execution, these things/names/brand come to my mind…. Apple (the i-phone maker not the fruit), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Maggi Noodles, … Alok Kejriwal…. 

    Keep at it sir!! 

    HJ

  18. please keep adding to this / or do a follow up write!!

    cheers

  19. Alok thanks a ton for this wonderfully simple presentation to the scary financial concepts…Request you to pls incorporate all the other topics regarding funding and help us…I am sounding bit greedy may be not only bit…request you to cover DCF and NPV as well…as these are  most prevalent models these days for investing….THANKS A TON Regards Vimal

  20. i always wondered what makes a CEO so so important.

    He doesn’t sits in the office for the working hours coding,signing files,making decisions etc etc…

    Why he is the man of steel?

    well i am very clear now he is not the man of steel he’s BATMAN hunts in the dark !

  21. just loved it.. !! simply wow.. what an easy explanation.. I have no clue about this funding untill i read this ppt. thank you Alok. and yeah  try to add a following write up or another ppt for this 🙂

  22. Sir ji, Thank you so much for explaining these terms in so simple way. Wonderful read!!  I never thought that these terms will be so easy to understand ever. Thanks a ton! 🙂

  23. Simplicity is the ultimate beauty !

  24. Nicely explained. Please add the next slides 🙂

  25. Now I understood what these scary things are 😛

  26. Love it when complicated crap jargon is dissected & made simple for humans to understand. Great going Sir!

  27. Great post. Actually so many factors we need to consider when you explore your funding options. Like are you in need of short-term or long term? The funds is for operating expenses or for capital expenditures. Do you need all the funds now or in small amounts over monthly terms. To star-up a new business need a lot of efforts. Thanks for sharing such a useful article. Keep posting and share your knowledge.

  28. So simply explained, thank you! 

  29. Sir,

    We can’t take the basic rate (or discount rate) of 10% to calculate the valuation of the company. The interest rate of 10% that the bank gives is almost risk free. So, the same should not be applied for any start-up as the risk is very high and the investor would expect the discount rate to be in line with the risk.

  30. In fact, thats why valuations are higher… because the return should be HIGHER than the riskless rate…

    Ps – NOT lower because thats a negative co-relation

  31. Ok let me take the same example that you have used to explain this.

    Profits/annum = Rs. 75 lacs

    Let us assume that the investor wishes to get discount rate of 50% (I have read that normally investors expect discount rate of 30-70% depending on lot of things, so I have taken 50% for our calculation.) You have taken discount rate of Bank at 10%.

    Now to get profits of Rs. 75 lacs per annum, one should just invest Rs.1.5 Crore at an interest rate of 50% per annum. So, the valuation of the company at 50% discount rate should be just Rs. 1.5 Crore and not higher than Rs. 7.5 Crore.

    Obviously, this is negative co-relation.

    Talking in technical terms, this is a case of perpetuity as we are expecting an identical cash flow of Rs. 75 lacs per annum. Then, Present value is calculated as (C/r) where C = per annum cash flow generated and r = expected discount rate

    So, the expected present value(Valuation) of the company earning Rs. 75 lacs at 50% discount rate would be Rs. (75/50%) = Rs. 150 lacs or 1.5 Crore.

    Refer – https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/perpetuity.asp

  32. Your argument doesn’t make sense.

    Because thats the equivalent of a Bank Manager coming to you and saying that while you are getting 10% return on your money, he wants to TAKE your money and offer you a DISCOUNTED rate of return because he is safer etc!

    Investors NEGOTIATE valuations.

    PS – Discounts on valuations are DOWN ROUNDS  (when Businesses are heading downhill) – not improved valuations. This PPT is for potentially successful companies – not the ones that are going downhill. (case – if the 75 lacs in this year will become 50 lacs the next year and 25 lacs the next year…)

    Now, to tackle your example:

    If profits are 75 lacs and safe interest is 10%, obviously MINIMUM valuation is 7.5 crores of the Company.

    Now, as the entrepreneur, you will say my Company is valued at 15-20 crores (because you will obviously Project BETTER CASH FLOW THAN 75 lacs in the years to come) to which the VC will try and negotiate and DISCOUNT  (read Negotiate) THE VALUATION you are demanding.

    Maybe, the valuation will settle at 10-12 crores.

    Hence, he will INVEST money at a pre-money value of 10 crores (or even 7.50 crores if he negotiates hard!!)

    What you have done in your example is confused INVESTMENT NEGOTIATION with BUSINESS RISK! (that 50% of cash flow will dry up)

    Now, let me point out the point you missed (the INVESTMENT part):

    If the present value of the Company as you state is 1.50 crores, how much will the investor INVEST TO GET 50%?

    1.50 crores? (1.50 crores pre money + 1.50 crores investment = 3 crores post money. 1.50 crores investment on 3 crores valuation = 50% ownership)

    If we go by your example, the company that makes 75 lacs per annum will be now worth 3 crores, with 2 owners each owning 50%

    Hence, the VC will be entitles to 37.50 lacs profits (50% of 75 lacs) on an original investment of 1.50 croreso or A RETURN OF 25% (not 50%!!) per annum??

    Ask yourself – if you were making 75 lacs per annum, why would you give away half of that = 37.50 lacs for just 1.50 crores?

    Does that make sense to you?!

    This will explain the confusion about mixing VALUATION WITH DISCOUNTING of CASH flow..

  33. You have got me wrong here. By discounting, I do not mean that the valuation has been discounted. And I am not talking about negotiation which is done by the investors and the owners, neither am I talking about companies which are going downhill. 

    Discount rate means the rate of return that the investor expects to make from his investment. This number is used to calculate valuation/NPV of the company in DCF method. 

    I was trying to understand what discount rate normally investors expect from startups. As you said, it looks weird to value the company just for 3 crores when the profit is 75 lacs. I was helping one of my friend make estimates of future cash flow and valuation as he had to present the report to one of the investor. But, I got puzzled when came to know that angel investors expect more than 50% discount rate (Source: Many quora posts, could not find anywhere else).

    One of the Quora answers – Check the 2nd answer by Bo Brustkern, see his explanation for discounting.

    I think I have confused you a lot.

  34. I always refer to this particular presentation when in doubt and really like the way Pre-Money, Post Money and Dilution is explained. Simplistic but the concept is easily understood…thanks once again 

    Sanchita (http://www.indiacod.com)

  35. a big big thanks for this post. Now i know V of valuation 🙂

  36. I am a new Alok’s and Rodinhood’s fan. Must say, this ppt clears the concept of pre-money and post-money.

  37. You have simplified this awesomely Sir. Would love it if you add more topics to it. Can’t wait!! Thank you so much 🙂

  38. Simply awesome Alok. More please.

  39. Excellent read to get people warmed up to the idea of valuation and dilution.

  40. Alok, I am a finance professional and find this so simple to understand!!

  41. You made it super easy !! Thanks!!

  42. Added the Slideshare link to download and save 🙂

  43. It can’t be simpler than this, Thank you Alok for sharing this!

    the VC referred here is a smart lady 🙂

  44. Awesome.. Never knew that calculating Dilution is that simple. 🙂

  45. Through your PPT, I have learnt the following basics today:

    a) Valuation
    b) Pre-money and

    c) Post money

    Though I was reading so many articles, no one gave this much clarity. Clarity is strength.

    You can do a sequel for this for advanced concepts.

    Best wishes

    Shiva Kumar.

  46. WOW! Great article. Even school going boy will understand Funding concept. Thanks for sharing

  47. Nicely summarized but it is applicable only to specific companies at that stage. More like company which has stable cash flow and overcome from a “Startup” stage.

  48. I always thought Valuation in terms of Market Cap i.e. No. of outstanding shares x Price of each share, but never understood its inherent meaning. Now its clear. Thank you Rodinhood. Would like to read on remaining topics as well.

  49. Great Read! Also, sir, I am having questions regarding mobile game research and overall development. It would be great if you can help on that!

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