[Have your notes ready and feel free to pause at any time!]
If you’re a pre-seed, pre-revenue startup, this will be notional trajectories. If you’re already in-flight, you’ll want to have data.
Understanding Traction
What traction means: Evidence that your startup is gaining momentum.
Why investors care: Traction reduces risk and indicates market validation.
Types of traction: Revenue, user growth, partnerships, product adoption, etc.
Measuring Traction
Key metrics: Monthly recurring revenue (MRR), customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV), user engagement, etc.
Qualitative traction: Customer testimonials, media coverage, strategic partnerships.
Benchmarks: Comparing your traction to industry standards or competitors.
Presenting Traction
Visualizing traction with graphs and charts.
Highlighting key wins and growth trends.
Showing how traction aligns with your growth plan and business model.
Timetables help investors understand the profitability timeline. While a roadmap is good for features, timelines are for money.
Creating a Timetable
A clear timetable helps in planning, executing, and tracking progress.
Investors use timetables to assess feasibility and commitment.
Building a Timetable
Start with key milestones and work backwards to determine necessary actions.
Include timelines for product development, customer acquisition, scaling operations, etc.
Flexibility: Allowing for adjustments while maintaining overall direction.