Knowledge Center for Early-Stage Ventures & SMEs
- Cut cash tied up in operations in 30–60 days using CCC.
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A step-by-step guide to instrument cohorts and stop avoidable churn. - Simple stage rules, conversions, and forecast math that holds up.
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- SBIR/STTR, Horizon Europe, Innovate UK—what’s real and how to apply.
GUIDE 1 — Working Capital & Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) for SMEs
Cash stuck in inventory and receivables can delay hiring, marketing, and product. CCC shows how fast cash flows through your business and where to fix it.
What CCC is (plain English)
CCC = DIO + DSO − DPO (days of inventory + days of sales outstanding − days payable). Lower is better; negative CCC means suppliers fund part of your operations.
- Retail/Wholesale
- DSO: Incentivize prepayment or cards; net-15 default; dunning at +3/+7/+14.
- DIO: ABC analysis; kill “C” SKUs; reorder weekly not monthly.
- DPO: Ask top 5 vendors for +10 days against annualized volume; offer forecast sharing.
- Manufacturing
- DIO: Kanban for A SKUs; consignment where feasible.
- DSO: 2/10 net-30 discount only for accounts >$X; enforce credit limits.
- DPO: Early-pay programs if you capture >2% discount; otherwise extend standard terms.
- Software/Services
- DSO: Card/ACH default; annual prepay with 5–10% incentive; auto-billing with retries.
- DPO: Shift to monthly SAAS billing (no annual prepay outflows unless discounted enough).
- Note: Software often has no inventory; CCC focuses on DSO − DPO.
Notes & benchmarks (practical context)
- Companies can release significant cash by improving CCC; extensive studies show >€1.5T of excess working capital globally (opportunity concentrated in mid-caps and smaller firms still lagging). Use this as “why now” to align your team.
- Improving payment terms, processes, and inventory is core to better CCC.
Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) Calculator
CCC = DIO + DSO − DPO. Lower is better; negative means suppliers fund part of ops.
CCC
GUIDE 2 — Pricing in 90 Days
Most startups under-invest in pricing. Benchmarks show monetization changes can outperform acquisition as a growth lever; value-metric pricing and localization materially improve results.
Guardrails
- Keep one hero package; avoid 6+ plans.
- Grandfather pricing; announce changes 30 days ahead for existing customers.
- Measure ARPA, conversion, churn at 30/60/90 (no vanity metrics).
GUIDE 3 — Cohorts & Retention
Retention and expansion now drive a larger share of SaaS growth; measuring cohorts is the fastest way to spot where you leak value.
What to measure (definitions)
- Acquisition cohorts: group by signup/first order month.
- Behavioral cohorts: group by key action (e.g., “completed X in 7 days”).
- Predictive cohorts: flagged by ML or propensity. Amplitude
5 steps to implement (Mixpanel/Amplitude or any tool)
- Define 1–2 activation events and 1 retention event.
- Create monthly acquisition cohorts; chart day-7/30/90 retention.
- Layer behavioral cohorts (e.g., users who did Feature X within 7 days).
- Compare retention curves; identify the first big drop.
- Ship one intervention (onboarding tweak, email nudge) and re-check after 14–28 days. Mixpanel+2Mixpanel Docs+2
Target outcomes (initial)
- Day-30 retention flat or rising m/m.
- Activation rate +10–20% after your first intervention.
- Expansion contribution trending up (NRR as your north-star if recurring). ChartMogul
GUIDE 4 — B2B Pipeline Hygiene & Forecasting
Forecasts fail when data quality is weak and stages are vague. Only a minority of sales pros fully trust their data—tighten definitions and math.
Stage rules (copy these into your CRM)
- SQL (qualified): problem, budget range, timing, and economic buyer identified.
- Opportunity / Demo: meeting held; documented pain + next step with date.
- Proposal: priced package sent; buyer confirms decision process.
- Commit: verbal yes; legal/PO in motion.
Typical conversion ranges (sanity checks)
- QL → Opportunity: ~15–25%
- Demo → Proposal: ~20–30%
- Proposal → Closed-Won: ~25–40%
- Use your history to set targets; these are ranges, not promises.
Forecast math (simple & fair)
- Weighted forecast = Σ (Deal value × Stage probability)
- Coverage rule: next-quarter pipeline ≥3× target until your close-rate is stable.
Hygiene checklist (weekly)
- Every opp has next step + date; dead deals closed/lost; duplicates merged.
- Inbound vs outbound tagged at source; attribution frozen at MQL.
- Red flags: >15% of opps with no activity in 21 days; close dates repeatedly pushed.
Context & trend
- Teams investing in AI/automation report material improvements in productivity and conversion (directionally 10–30%). Treat this as a potential uplift—validate against your baseline.
GUIDE 5 — Investor Updates & Data Rooms
Clear monthly updates keep you top-of-mind; a prepared data room shortens diligence cycles and reduces back-and-forth.
Investor update (monthly, keep it to one page)
- Headline KPIs (trend), What happened, What’s next, Asks (with owners), Hiring. Use a fixed template; Y Combinator’s outline is a good starting point.
Data room structure (Series Seed–A)
- Company (one-pager, org chart), Market (slides/memo), Product (demo/specs), Go-to-Market (pipeline, win/loss), Financials (P&L, plan), Legal (cap table, IP, key contracts), People (agreements), Security/Privacy(basic policies). Practical checklists from investors and operators: YC, Carta, others.
Hygiene & security
- Use a VDR or managed drive with strict access; unique links per viewer; watermark sensitive docs.
- Keep cap table and 409A current; understand CTA (US) where applicable.
GUIDE 6 — Non-Dilutive Funding 101 (US/EU/UK)
Grants/innovation programs can fund R&D and pilots. Start from official portals; success rates vary by call and timing.
Where to look (official sources)
- US (SBIR/STTR): competitive non-dilutive programs across federal agencies; central portal at SBIR.gov; see DOE’s page for example award formats.
- EU (Horizon Europe): €95.5B program; see Funding & Tenders portal + work programmes.
- UK (Innovate UK): national innovation agency; note Smart Grants paused early 2025 with a new pilot expected—check current guidance before applying.
Fit test (quick screen)
- TRL/stage matches the call; IP owned/assignable; co-funding ready (if required); measurable outcomes within 12–24 months.
Application basics
- Read the work programme/call text end-to-end; mirror its headings in your answers.
- Scoreable sections = problem, innovation, team, plan, impact, budget & risk.
- Reuse content from your product memo and KPI sheet; don’t invent a “grant product”.
Cash Runway Calculator
Cash Runway Calculator
Based on current operating inflows and outflows.
