Remove Forecast Remove Hockey Stick Remove Marketing Remove Sales
article thumbnail

Top Startup Mistake: Unrealistic Forecasts

Up and Running

When I asked the standard “How are you,” he answered: “If I see another hockey stick forecast this week, I’m going to throw something at somebody.”. That was so long ago that I had to ask him to explain the hockey stick metaphor. ” See Also: How to Forecast Sales. .”

Forecast 130
article thumbnail

Forecasting Models: What You Need to Know

Up and Running

Whether your business is brand new or it’s been around for a while, you’ve probably thought about putting together a financial forecast. Forecasting and comparing your actuals with what you projected should be a regular and ongoing part of your process—not something you do once, or once a year. What is forecasting?

Forecast 114
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

What Makes a Sales Forecast Credible?

Up and Running

So for me, what makes a sales forecast credible? It starts with product market fit. I want to see a sales forecast with drivers. And I’m also going to look outside of the sales projection for credibility in the projected marketing spend. Well then, that helps makes a sales forecast credible.

article thumbnail

Flexible VC, a New Model for Companies Targeting Profitability

David Teten

In all these cases, capital is provided to fuel forecasted growth without creating a commitment to a particular vision for future funding rounds, exit goals, and associated blitzscaling. The value ascribed by subsequent investors (in a secondary); buyers (acquisition); or the public markets (IPO). The State of Flexible VC.

article thumbnail

CXL Live 2019 Recap: Takeaways from Every Speaker

ConversionXL

Go beyond standard sources of voice of customer data ; better options are: Interview founders (the original “customers”); Thank-you page surveys; Usertesting.com; Mine sales calls; Mine support tickets; Mine Facebook comments ; Mine online reviews. digital analytics, market research). Product and marketing teams should be involved.

article thumbnail

8 Common Business Plan Mistakes

Up and Running

We are trained to think of business as sales minus costs and expenses, which equal profits. Business plans can be different things: they are sometimes just sales documents to explain a new business. They can also be Lean Plans , detailed action plans, financial plans , marketing plans , and even personnel plans. We spend cash.

article thumbnail

Is Your Startup Tracking the Right Metrics?

Up and Running

Tracking metrics and making sure you know what’s going on with your business is crucial; it enables you to determine if your assumptions about your business are correct, if your financial and marketing strategies are working, and ultimately allows you to make the best decisions possible for your business.

Metrics 84