Investment Case Design
We have experience bringing clarity to investment decisions.
Perhaps you are
- proposing a large project to senior management, getting approval from finance, or working through a corporate funding process, or
- proposing new funding for your start-up venture.
Either way, you'll need a clear investment case, and defensible revenue and expense projections. We have:
- designed successful investment cases worth millions of dollars: writing the documentation, presentations, and summary documents needed to open the purse strings
- built the financial models which not only projected the ROI, but told the story about the opportunity
- helped startups convince investors that they can trust the models and predictions so common among people seeking funding.
We have the experience, communication skills, and quantitative skills to put your investment case together.
Investment plan documents need to address the key issues succinctly.
Some key things which make this process go smoothly are:
- Clarify decision-maker interests early in the process. Is the main goal to generate enthusiasm for a project, or keep already-high expectations realistic? Early clarification of the objectives can save countless hours wordsmithing drafts.
- Clarify roles, especially when more than a couple people are commenting on a draft. Who will make a recommendation, give consent, provide input, and ultimately make the decision?
- Be strategic when approaching standard processes. Many companies document lengthy a“Unified Process” or similar framework in the corporate investment process. By looking past the format and focusing on the intention of the corporate process, you can help determine which parts are truly relevant to your situation, and which may be shortened or possibly omitted.
Building truly useful financial models is truly as much art as science.
When designing the revenue or expense models for an investment case, we consider the following:
- Make the model as readable as it is accurate. Accuracy is not enough, if readers don't understand the approach.
- Identify the main drivers early on. They may not be obvious because there are often several ways to approach the problem. Which one tells the real story?
- Base all assumptions on defensible present-day data.
- Option valuation can be an invaluable tool to realistically evaluate some projects. This especially applies to initiatives where large delayed investments are required.
We have written investment plans in a wide variety of situations. Please see about for more information on our background.