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    Business Fundamentals

    A plain-language guide to the questions founders actually ask about money — written by the people who answer them for a living, with real numbers and no jargon left unexplained.

    59 questions, grouped into 12 topics, each answered on its own page. Words that usually need a glossary are explained where they appear — tap any underlined term.

    Every question, answered the same way

    1. Quick answerThe two-sentence version you can act on today.
    2. The workingThe numbers, mistakes, options and worked examples this particular question turns on — in rupees, where rupees are what it turns on.
    3. Our honest takeWhat we would tell you across a table, not what a brochure would.

    Your learning map

    12 stages, 59 questions. Read it in order, or jump straight to whatever is worrying you this week.

    Start hereWhat a startup’s finance function really does

    The base

    Accounting, Compliance & Controllership

    Recording what happened, staying compliant, keeping the books clean and audit-ready. It is not glamorous, and it holds up everything above it.

    1. Start hereGetting the Basics RightThe simple money habits every fundable startup builds early: staying compliant, knowing where your money goes, and never running out of cash.3 questionsGo deeperDD Readiness & Contracts
    2. Your Finance BackboneThe unglamorous systems that keep a startup honest and alive: closing your books, running an MIS, clean bookkeeping, and understanding your own numbers.6 questions
    3. Setting Up Your CompanyThe practical basics of incorporating in India or the US, receiving money from abroad, and the rules that govern cross-border money.6 questions
    4. Tax, Compliance & AuditThe tax and audit basics every founder must respect — including the two mistakes (GST and TDS) that turn into serious trouble.9 questions

    The middle

    Financial Planning & Analysis

    Turning clean numbers into understanding and decisions: unit economics, pricing, metrics, cashflow. Where finance stops being about the past.

    1. Making Money WorkPricing, metrics and unit economics — the numbers that decide whether growing makes you stronger or just burns cash faster.3 questions
    2. Pricing That Captures ValueWhy what you charge should start from the value you create, not from your costs — and how to find the right price for your kind of business.3 questions
    3. Measuring What MattersThe numbers that tell you the truth about your business — which ones to watch, how they change as you grow, and how to know if they're any good.6 questionsGo deeperWhy FP&A Is a Founder's Ultimate Tool
    4. Margins, Breakeven & CashThe numbers that tell you if you make money on what you sell, when you'll break even, and whether you'll survive.10 questions
    5. Cost Structure by Business TypeWhat actually goes into each cost bucket — direct costs, overheads, sales & marketing, and admin — for five kinds of business.5 questions

    The top

    Strategy & Leadership

    Using the numbers to steer the company: roadmap, milestones, the shape of your cap table, and the long game of growing enterprise value.

    1. Planning Your GrowthHow you'll get from here to your next big milestone — your roadmap, and whether the product or the sales team pulls your growth.3 questionsGo deeperStrategy Consulting
    2. Raising MoneyWhat investors are really looking at, at each stage — and the different ways you can raise.3 questions
    3. Valuing Your StartupThe question every founder gets wrong first: what your company is worth, and how to back it up.2 questions
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    Written by the people who do this work

    Or start from what is worrying you

    Every subject in the guide, 59 of them, each going straight to the answer.

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