Advanced Finance & Fundraising
A valuation is an opinion. Unit economics are a fact.
The business case
Forty-Seven Billion to Withdrawn in Six Weeks — WeWork · United States · August–September 2019. In August 2019 WeWork's parent filed to go public at an implied valuation of roughly forty-seven billion dollars, having raised enormous sums privately.
Why it matters
A valuation is an opinion. Unit economics are a fact. Private valuations are negotiated between a small number of parties who often share an interest in the number being high. Public markets apply a different standard. For a founder the lesson is not about scale. It is that money raised at a high valuation does not validate a business — it only postpones the moment of examination. Governance matters here too. Concentrated control and related-party transactions were tolerated privately and rejected immediately once disclosed.
What you will be able to do afterwards
- Financial modelling: profit, cash flow and balance sheet
- Funding options and what each actually costs you
- Indian schemes: Startup India, SIDBI, MUDRA and state support
37 screens, audio-narrated, with a quiz at the end.