Finance Report

In your first assignment as a group, you are going to choose a start-up: To which you have access and could possibly interview the co-founders, CEO, senior team members, etc. Which has been in existence for at least a couple of years and has published (preferably at least) 2 years of financial statements (one is the absolute minimum, but higher is better). You are going to study the start-up, mostly from a financial perspective, and write up a report on this and also present your findings in class to your other class-mates. These would be the most important pillars of your research and analysis: Study the company to see how well in your view, it creates or meets a customer need, provides an initial competitive advantage, is timely in terms of time-to-market, and offers the expectation of added value to investors. (5%) Perform SWOT analysis (and other relevant analyses) to study the position of the firm and understand it’s prospect. (10%) Perform a Qualitative screening by Interviewing the founder and key team-members. (15%) Perform a Quantitative screening: VOS Indicator (10%) Attempt to quantify the following areas (part of VOS Indicator) Industry/Market Pricing/Profitability Financial/Harvest Management Team Discuss Business Organization Type, relevance and pros/cons (5%) Protection of valuable intangible assets if it applies? (5%) Present financial statements and highlights, and discuss break-even point(s) and drivers (10%) Calculate, present and analyse different financial and accounting ratios (10%) Perform short-term (12month?) cash planning for the firm, specifically looking at (10%) Sales Schedule Purchase Schedule Wages and Commission Schedule Cash Budget etc. Try to prepare detailed monthly financial plans for the next year and possibly annual financial plans for the next three-five years (10%) Based on your findings from before, anticipate and plan to obtain multiple rounds of financing as the venture grows. In other words, when do you think the firm will need what type of capital, and how much? (5%) Discuss what would be an exit strategy consistent with the entrepreneur’s objectives and business plan (5%) Please note that in this assignment, you’re NOT expected to do a valuation of the company, you’re just evaluating it. The valuation will be your second assignment, so don’t spend time on it for now 