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    Business Fundamentals

    Topic 12 of 12 · Start here: what a finance function does

    Valuing Your Startup

    The question every founder gets wrong first: what your company is worth, and how to back it up.

    The 2 decisions this topic covers

    1. No revenue yet, but asked what you're worth?You don't value it on numbers you don't have yet — you value the risk you've already removed.
    2. Need a number you can defend?There's no single “best” method.

    The questions, answered

    Pre-revenue valuationNo revenue yet, but asked what you're worth?You don't value it on numbers you don't have yet — you value the risk you've already removed. A pre-revenue valuation is a negotiation built on method, team, market and traction, not something a spreadsheet spits out.Valuation methodsNeed a number you can defend?There's no single “best” method. The best approach is to use the method your evidence supports, cross-check it with a second one, and be ready to explain every number. And the right method changes as you grow.

    Who answers these

    The guide is written by the people who do this work for founders every week.