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Finance Support for Startups/Entrepreneurs

BA470
Closed
Lakeland College
Lakeland College
Vermilion, Alberta, Canada
JT
John Turvey
Economics Instructor
3
Timeline
  • January 25, 2021
    Experience start
  • February 26, 2021
    Project Scope Meeting
  • April 7, 2021
    Experience end
General
  • Diploma; 2nd year
  • 16 learners; teams of 4
  • 9 hours per learner
  • Dates set by experience
  • Learners self-assign
Preferred companies
  • 1 projects wanted
  • Anywhere
  • Academic experience
  • Startup, Small to medium enterprise
  • Retail, Hospitality, Manufacturing, Apparel & fashion, Consumer goods & services, Trade & international business, Transport, trucking & railroad, Construction, engineering & trades, Media & production
Categories
Accounting Leadership Organizational structure Market research Product or service launch
Skills
writing competitive analysis business strategy research startups
Project timeline
  • January 25, 2021
    Experience start
  • February 26, 2021
    Project Scope Meeting
  • April 7, 2021
    Experience end
Overview
Learner goals and capabilities

Are you a startup that is growing? Are you looking to seek investments to scale up? As you grow, you will likely be needing to understand the financial situation of your company. Does this sound like you? Our students can help you gain better understand your financial ownership and the options available to you for growing.

In this project, students will analyze the capitalization (cap) table of a survival stage start-up to help the start-up understand its valuation cap. Survival stage start-ups have validated the product–market fit of their idea and may have received financing from venture capitalists, government grants, and/or commercial banks.

A participating company will benefit from students analyzing and sharing their conclusions on the cap table.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

Students will put together a presentation or report to help the survival stage start-up understand its valuation cap.

Students will review the information in the cap table (for more on cap tables, see https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/valuation/cap-table-guide-template/). They will then draw conclusions from the ownership of the start-up. Students can use the following cap table assessment model as a guide: https://captable.io/resources/kauffman-techstars-venture-deals-cap-table-convertible-debt.

Project Examples

The cap table is included in the term sheet, an agreement between the investor and start-up. It contains investment details of all the stock owners (shareholders) of the company.

A group of students will obtain a term sheet from the chief financial officer (CFO) and/or founder(s) of a survival stage start-up. They will analyze and draw conclusions from the ownership of the start-up. Students can also answer questions based on the ownership scenario or posed by the CFO/founder(s).

The cap table is an important aid for both entrepreneurs, investors, and future investors. It is important for students to understand exactly who owns how much of the company and what the implications are in a potential future round of funding. The central question for this project is “What will I own if investor X invests in my company at Y valuation?”

Additional company criteria

Companies must answer the following questions to submit a match request to this experience:

Be available for a quick phone call with the instructor to initiate your relationship and confirm your scope is an appropriate fit for the course.

Provide a dedicated contact who is available to answer periodic emails or phone calls over the duration of the project to address students' questions.