3 ways that you can maximize your company’s valuation as an early stage start up (a snippet from my podcast, "A Founder's Life").

Hey Indiehackers, I recently started a podcast called A Founder's Life, where I interview entrepreneurs, investors and anyone who can offer practical advice, ideas, experiences, tips, tricks - whatever - that can help Founders.

My first podcast episode is with Henek Lo (https://www.hypeasia.co), who is the founder of Hype Asia. He was the AirBNB’s first person in Greater China, head of WeWork when they launched in Asia, and since then, through Hype, has helped a number of other companies grow as a venture builder. Notably, GOAT, Snapask and also has built his own D2C ecommerce brands.

In the podcast I asked him a wide ranging set of questions, like how does someone get started with their business, how to build a company culture, how to deal with mental health as a Founder… but one of the most insightful questions I got answers to were about the financial side of the business, namely how to really maximize your company’s valuation. This is especially important now with the economy going to shit, its important that us start ups put our best foot forward when trying to grow and raise capital.

Click here to listen to the pod - I appreciate any feedback! Thank you in advanced!
https://www.gini.co/gini-blog/how-to-successfully-scale-a-bussiness-with-henek-lo-of-hype-asia

Below are Henek’s 3 ways that you can maximize your company’s valuation as an early stage start up.

1. Finding the right investors
This one seems obvious but you’d be surprised. Investors, just like us, need to specialize and hone in on a sector. You can’t be an expert in every industry. Focus on the investors that know and understand the space you operate in. That way, they can justify your valuation and are more likely to see things the way you do. If you’re a deep tech company, don’t go to a investor that specializes in consumer products. It won’t get you very far.

2. Keep track of your business finances. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS!!

Everyone’s seen Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den. What do the sharks and dragons ask every time without fail?

• What are your key financial figures?
• What is your cash flow projection?
• What are your projected sales?
• How much do you sell them for? What are your margins like?
• How did you come to the valuation you’ve put on your company?

The other day, one of my investors asked all their portfolio companies for their quarterly financial reports and said “bonus points to those who get it to us within 24 hours!”. Having clear and organized finances is not an easy task but it’s the bare minimum. Having clean books and accounting will impress an investor. It’s irrefutable evidence of your revenue growth, momentum, costs and more. Staying on top of your finances also allows you to minimize wasteful spending and allocate these resources on better things. It's a sane way to dictate what your fundamental numbers should fetch you– a baseline.

3. Be a great story teller
Everyone loves a good story. The best pitches on shark tank and dragon’s den come with an inspiring and moving back story. Even talent shows favour the contestants with a story to tell. It’s not any different when it comes to securing some funding.

When you hear about a company getting an uber high valuation, you wonder how that was justified. What we don’t get to see from the outside is how the founder told their story and explained the vision of their company. Did they send their deck via email accompanied by a 30 minute zoom call or did the investors spend time to get to know the founder and learn about their ideas, goals and where they see the future of their business.

How well do you tell the story? How well do you preach it, and believe in it yourself? Founders who are more passionate and more dedicated to what they're doing get funded more and at higher valuations. Investors can see that and are more willing to give those people more help. They want to see people who will just truck through, who will continue to persist through thick and thin. These founders usually compete in higher valuations as well.

I hope you found these 3 tips helpful. Check out the rest of the “A Founder’s Life” podcast at the link belowI host a podcast called A Founder’s Life and I talk about startups. (There are transcripts of the episode if you don’t feel like listening)

https://www.gini.co/gini-blog/how-to-successfully-scale-a-bussiness-with-henek-lo-of-hype-asia