Most financial modelling engagements start with too much data and the job is to find the signal in it. This one started with the opposite problem. A single column of figures, an idea for app, minimally assessed market data, resulting in a business model that hadn't yet been translated into anything an investor could evaluate.
That's not unusual for an early-stage business, and it’s an opportunity to build from the ground up. It's a reason to go and find the numbers that do exist, doing so via relevant industry reporting, market analysis, and government data. It goes without saying, to get in front of the right investors, a little more than single column assumptions of internal figures are required.
Building the model around the gaps
The work here wasn't reformatting what RuckList already had, it was constructing the forward-looking case around a complete suite of data to paint an investible picture of the vision. The bare minimum would be a sophisticated discounted cash flow model with assumptions sourced externally wherever the business's own data ran out, built to the same standard of rigour as investor-grade modelling for a much larger company. So that’s what I did.
Then, to visualise the opportunity, I built a pitch deck to compliment the story the model told, so that every claim an investor heard in the room was backed by a number they could trace back through the model if they asked. That alignment between the narrative and the numbers is usually where early-stage pitches fall over. A good story with a spreadsheet that doesn't quite support it, or a rigorous model nobody outside finance can follow.
The outcome
“We had a product and a vision, but almost nothing on paper. A single column of our figures became a full forward-looking financial model, grounded in real industry and market data. The pitch deck told the same story in a format that investors could follow. Together they got us meetings with high-net-worth investors, and we’ve since closed funding and launched the App.”
