What's the best way to value my startup?
Quick answer
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.
The mistake most founders make
Using a revenue multiple before they've earned the right to. A multiple like “yearly revenue × some number” only works when your revenue is real, recurring, growing and sticky. Slapping a 300x multiple on a few lakhs of one-off revenue isn't ambition — it's a number that falls apart the moment someone looks closely.
Match the method to your stage
Pre-revenue / early: judgement-based methods (, , ) — value the team, traction and IP. Early recurring revenue (roughly ₹1–5 Cr a year): revenue multiples become a loose reference, heavily discounted — use them as a cross-check, not the anchor. Steady, growing revenue (₹5 Cr+ a year, with customers staying): now a revenue multiple is believable — and the multiple itself goes up with your growth rate and how good your margins are. Remember: seasonal or one-off revenue isn't recurring revenue, and a multiple on it overstates your value.
Always cross-check
Whatever your stage, run at least two methods and show a range. If a revenue-multiple approach and the VC method land far apart, find out why before an investor does — that gap is usually where an assumption is hiding.
Our honest take
Valuation isn't a number you like; it's a number you can defend. The founders who win the negotiation are the ones who show their working — the method, the comparisons, the assumptions — not the ones who quote the biggest figure.