Resources
These are tools we share with founders, workbooks for thinking through a new venture or stress-testing an existing business model. Everything here is free to use. Take what is useful and leave the rest.
Workbooks
The Road Test
A seven-stage framework for stress-testing a new venture before you commit. Questions covering the market, the industry, the team and your own personal readiness. Best for founders in the earliest days, before or during the decision to start.
Based on The New Business Road Test by John Mullins, London Business School.
Time: 2–3 hours
Getting to Plan B
A workbook for founders already building, to find out whether the current plan is working and be ready with a better one. Covers analogs, antilogs, leaps of faith, and a dashboard for the five elements of your business model. For founders past the idea stage and into execution.
Based on Getting to Plan B by John Mullins and Randy Komisar, Harvard Business Press, 2009.
Time: 6–10 hours
Writing
How to value a pre-seed startup: the four methods that work, and why you need all of them
Pre-seed valuation feels arbitrary because no single method works. Four methods do, when triangulated. Here is what each method does well, what each gets wrong, and how to read the resulting range.
Read →Rich or King: a framework for reading your first term sheet
Most term-sheet advice tells founders to fight every clause. Wasserman's Rich-vs.-King framework says pick three. Here is how to decide which three.
Read →What CAC, LTV, and PMF actually mean for a subscription business
Subscription businesses live or die on six numbers. Most founders track three. Here is what each one means, how they interact, and which ones kill the business.
Read →We add to this occasionally. If something here helps you, let us know.