2. agenda
â˘âŻ about me
 15
â˘âŻ what is lean financing
â˘âŻ top 5 strategies
Q&A
â˘âŻ
minutes
3. about me
â˘âŻ entrepreneur: co-founded JustBooks /
AbeBooks (sold to Amazon in 2008)
â˘âŻ angel investor: 30+ early-stage investments in
consumer internet, SaaS & mobile
â˘âŻ venture partner with late-stage fund Acton
Capital
â˘âŻ co-founder of startup accelerator GrowLab
â˘âŻ BC Angel of the Year 2011
â˘âŻ Pacific E&Y Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005
â˘âŻ Masters and PhD in business administration
from the Otto Beisheim Graduate School of
Management (WHU)
4. what is lean financing?
â˘âŻ bootstrapping +
â˘âŻ minimize capital needs
â˘âŻ minimize dilution for founders
â˘âŻ BUT: only applicable to certain business models & specific market
dynamics
5. 5 top lean financing strategies
â˘âŻ revenues: think about revenues from the very first minute on
â˘âŻ salaries: low personal burn rates, leverage stock options
â˘âŻ marketing spent: only invest in trackable marketing channels
â˘âŻ capital expenses: minimize (AWS!)
â˘âŻ financing: optimize timing of financing rounds & leverage non-
dilutive ways of financing
6. revenues
â˘âŻ generating revenues most powerful way of self-financing
â˘âŻ does not work with business models that require scale (e.g.
advertising) or are generally hard to monetize (e.g. social media)
â˘âŻ works very well in e-commerce & SaaS
â˘âŻ sometimes dangerous to monetize too early
â⯠need product / market fit first
â⯠winner takes it all market
â⯠might change character of a community
7. salaries
â˘âŻ minimize personal burn rate of founders (âramen profitableâ)
â˘âŻ use stock options / equity to keep salaries of employees low
â˘âŻ get contractors to work for stock
â˘âŻ not only saves money but also good test for culture fit
8. marketing spent
â˘âŻ only invest in trackable marketing channels
â˘âŻ CAC / LTV ratio â length of payback period
â˘âŻ avoid large marketing investments with upfront risk
9. capital expenses
â˘âŻ minimize everything that might use up capital
â⯠hardware
â⯠office furniture
â⯠deposits
â˘âŻ cash is king!
10. financing
â˘âŻ optimize timing of financing round > step up in valuation b/c of
traction, favorable unit economics, or other risk-reducing events
â˘âŻ explore non-dilutive means of financing
â⯠SR&ED
â⯠IRAP
11. lean financing =
powerful way to limit dilution for founders but
donât miss out on growth opportunities b/c
you are too focused on keeping a big piece
of a small pie while you could have had a
smaller piece of a huge pie