Country Delight’s revenue from operations rose 1.6X to INR 542.6 Cr in FY22 from INR 320.7 Cr in FY21 Total expenses of the startup, which delivers milk and other dairy products to the doorsteps of its customers, more than doubled to INR 733.7 Cr in FY22 Promotional expenses rose almost fivefold to INR 124.6 Cr from INR 25.3 Cr in FY21 Dairytech startup Country Delight’s net loss ballooned over 6.5X to INR 186.4 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 28.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year due to a sharp increase in its expenses. The Delhi NCR based startup’s revenue from operations rose 1.6X to INR 542.6 Cr in FY22 from INR 320.7 Cr in FY21. Country Delight generates revenue from sale of milk and other products like curd, paneer (cottage cheese), ghee, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and coconut water. In FY22, it earned INR 367.8 Cr from sale of milk as against INR 251.8 Cr in FY21, while the sale of other products generated revenue of INR 171.3 Cr as against INR 68.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Total income, including other income, rose 68% to INR 547.2 Cr in FY22 from INR 325.6 Cr in the previous year. Meanwhile, total expenses more than doubled to INR 733.7 Cr from INR 353.9 Cr in FY21. At INR 288.2 Cr, cost of materials consumer accounted for the biggest chunk of expenses, rising 56.8% from INR 183.7 Cr in FY21. The startup also spent heavily on promotion in FY22. Promotional expenses rose almost fivefold to INR 124.6 Cr from INR 25.3 Cr in FY21. Employee benefit expenses grew 78.7% to INR 67.4 Cr from INR 37.7 Cr in FY21. Employee benefit expenses comprise employees salaries, PF contribution, and other employee welfare benefits. An increase in employee welfare benefits is an indication of the increase in employee headcount. As per Linkedin, Country Delight has over 1,000 employees. Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model where it sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers’ doorsteps. It also supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, fruits and vegetables.  The startup has raised over $158 Mn till date and was last valued at over $600 Mn. It counts Orios Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, and Temasek among its investors.  Country Delight competes with Odisha-based Milk Mantra. Milk Mantra’s revenue grew 48% to INR 271 Cr in FY22 from INR 182 Cr in FY21, while its profit dropped 36% to INR 13.6 Cr from INR 21.3 Cr in FY21. Besides, Country Delight also competes against Reliance Retail-acquired Milk Basket, which is likely to see the exit of over 100 employees as it integrates with JioMart. 

Many of the authors who chastised Smith, like Kunzru, disapprove primarily of this pirated database. Or, more specifically, they hate the idea of trying to make money off work derived from a pirated library as opposed to simply conducting research. “I’m not against all data scraping,” Devin Madson says. “I know a lot of academics in digital humanities, and they do scrape a lot of data.” Madson was one of the first people to contact Smith to complain about Prosecraft last week. What rubbed her the wrong way was the attempt to profit from the analytical tools developed with scraped data. (Madson also more broadly disapproves of AI writing tools, including Grammarly, for, as she sees it, encouraging the homogenization of literary style.) Not every author opposed Prosecraft, despite how it appeared on social media. MJ Javani was delighted when he saw that Prosecraft had a page about his first novel. “As a matter of fact, I dare say, I may have paid for this analysis if it had not been provided for free by Prosecraft,” he says. He does not agree with the decision to take the site down. “I think it was a great idea,” Daniela Zamudio, a writer who submitted her work, says. Even supporters have caveats about that pirated library, though. Zamudio, for instance, understands why people are upset about the piracy but hopes the site will come back using a submissions-based database. The moral case against Prosecraft is clear-cut: The books were pirated. Authors who oppose book pirating have a straightforward argument against Smith’s project. But did Smith deserve all that blowback? “I think he needed to be called out,” Kunzru says. “He maybe didn’t fully understand the sensitivity right now, you know, in the context of the WGA strike and the focus on large language models and various other forms of machine learning.” Others aren’t so sure. Publishing industry analyst Thad McIlroy doesn’t approve of data scraping, either. “Pirate libraries are not a good thing,” he says. But he sees the backlash against Prosecraft as majorly misguided. His term? “Shrieking hysteria.” And some copyright experts have watched the furor with their jaws near the ground. While the argument against piracy is simple to follow, they are skeptical that Prosecraft could’ve been taken to court successfully. Matthew Sag, a law professor at Emory University, thinks Smith could’ve mounted a successful defense of his project by invoking fair use, a doctrine allowing use of copyrighted materials without permission under certain circumstances, like parody or writing a book review. Fair use is a common defense against claims of copyright infringement within the US, and it’s been embraced by tech companies. It’s a “murky and ill-defined” area of the law, says intellectual property lawyer Bhamati Viswanathan, who wrote a book on copyright and creative arts. Which makes questions of what does or does not constitute fair use equally murky and ill-defined, even if it’s derived from pirated sources. Sag, along with several other experts I spoke with, pointed to the Google Books and HathiTrust cases as precedent—two examples of the courts ruling in favor of projects that uploaded snippets of books online without obtaining the copyright holders’ permission, determining that they constituted fair use. “I think that the reasons that people are upset really don’t have anything to do with this poor guy,” says Sag. “I think it has to do with everything else that’s going on.”

Realme is all set to launch its new mid-range smartphone in India. The company has confirmed that it will soon launch the Realme 11 5G and Realme 11X 5G smartphones in India. The Chinese smartphone maker has also revealed some of the specifications of the upcoming Realme 11 5G smartphone. Realme 11 5G confirmed specificationsRealme has confirmed that the Realme 11 5G will sport a 108MP main camera and it will come with 67W SuperVOOC charging support. The company has explained that the main sensor of the smartphone will allow users to capture plenty of details in every shot. “Among its notable features is the 3x in-sensor zoom, leveraging the HM6 sensor’s cutting-edge technology to achieve zoomed-in shots comparable to those taken with 3X optical zoom. This merging algorithm ensures users can focus on even the minutest details and compose their photos with precision. The incorporation of 9-in-1 binning technology enhances the device’s night photography capabilities, improving image quality and noise control for exceptional night shots. The smart ISO algorithm further enhances the HM6 sensor’s performance in low-light conditions, achieving a 160% improvement in maximum brightness,” mentioned the company. Three new camera filters—Tranquil, Crisp, and Cinematic—expand photographic possibilities and artistic expression within the Street Photography mode, adding unique visual styles to every shot.Along with this, Relame has also revealed that the smartphone will come with 67W fast charging support. The smartphone includes a 2:1 dual charge pump solution which claims to translate 98% conversion efficiency between the two charge pumps. Realme also claims that the smartphone will charge from 1 to 15% in 17 minutes. The smartphone is tipped to sport a 5000 mAh battery.The company has also confirmed that the Realme 11 5G will be available online on Flipkart and Realme.com and offline on authorised retail stores in the country. Along with this, the company has also confirmed that it will launch the Realme Air 5 Pro true wireless earbuds with the smartphones.

BGIS will feature Hindi and English commentary for all preliminary matches and culminate in a grand finale Over 2,000 teams have signed up for the tournament and will compete for a prize money of INR 2Cr The partnership comes at a time when JioCinema has been bolstering its live sports streaming portfolio JioCinema has partnered with game development platform Krafton India to live stream the official Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGIS).  The final round of The Grind, the first phase of BGIS 2023, is scheduled to begin on August 17 and end on August 20. It will be followed by the first round of BGIS 2023 streaming from August 31 onwards. The tournament’s grand finals will be streamed from October 12 to 14 on JioCinema. Krafton has claimed to see over 2,000 teams signing up for the tournament, who will compete for prize money of INR 2 Cr, with INR 75 Lakhs up for grabs for the winner.  BGIS will feature Hindi and English commentary for all preliminary matches and the grand finale.  Commenting on the development, Hursh Shrivastava, head of strategy, partnerships and acquisitions, Viacom18 Sports, said, “Esports has evolved beyond its niche origins and emerged as a mainstream experience, with a consistent surge in popularity. We are excited to deliver an exhilarating experience to a broader audience across the country with BGIS 2023.” In May, South Korean developer Krafton announced the return of its popular game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) after a nine-month ban in India in 2022. BGMI was pulled down from Google and Apple stores following a government order in July 2022. Initially launched in 2017, the game garnered 100 Mn registered users in India within a year of the launch.  From PUBG Mobile to BGMI, Krafton has faced hiccups due to regulatory issues in India. Despite that, Krafton has been trying to scale up in India and recently announced its commitment to invest $150 Mn in India over the next two to three years to invest in Indian gaming and entertainment startups. Meanwhile, Viacom18’s JioCinema has been enriching its portfolio and now making a foray into esports streaming as well. It streamed premium sporting events such as FIFA World Cup, and Indian Premier League (IPL) over the last one year to emerge as a strong contender in the Indian over-the-top (OTT) ecosystem.

With the Series 9 due next month, Apple Watch could finally have a new chip after years since the Series 6. But those waiting for a major overhaul will have to wait another year, as Apple has been saving some big changes for the 10th-anniversary of the Apple Watch, the “Apple Watch X,” which should be the most significant overhaul yet, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter. The Apple Watch X should be thinner than all the previous Apple Watches and even the coming one. Designers at Apple are exploring ways to attach bands differently and make the watch case thinner.Since the original Apple Watch, bands have been attached to the chassis with a locking mechanism. While this design maintains compatibility with old and new models, designers say it takes up valuable space for a bigger battery or other components. And so, the company is exploring a new magnetic band attachment system, which comes with the Watch X revamp, but it remains to be seen if it will be ready in time for the 10th anniversary. Gurman has been talking for months about a more vibrant and colourful microLED display for the Apple Watch. But, the new screen technology is relatively new and incredibly expensive. Also, Apple has faced significant obstacles in getting the display shrunken down while keeping it cost-effective for the Apple Watch. However, Gurman says that microLED could show up in Apple Watch X, which coincides with his earlier timeline, where he suggested that an Apple Watch with microLED is expected in 2024 or 2025.Apple has reportedly been planning to add a blood pressure sensor to the Apple Watch for years, and it may come out in time for the 10-year anniversary.A two-year refresh cycle for Apple Watch?In the newsletter, Gurman reiterates that the only upgrade Apple Watch is poised to get this year is a new chip, which, if rumours are to be believed, is based on the A15 Bionic. Additionally, Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra are said to retain their current screen sizes. Gurman notes that Apple has been considering offering less frequent but more significant updates for the Apple Watch, as the latest upgrade is deemed the least significant in the product’s history. He points out that while the iPad used to have annual upgrades, it now refreshes every 18 months. Even the Apple Watch SE refreshes once in two years, and the same could be the case with “Series” models. Considering the first Apple Watch was announced in 2014, it is likely that the Apple Watch X could be coming as early as next year. If Gurman is to be quoted, Apple plans to bring the Watch X either in 2024 or 2025.

According to data compiled by Inc42 from various sources, Flipkart is the biggest employer among Indian unicorns, as the ecommerce platform has 47,859 employees on its payroll The top 11 unicorns employ a similar number of people as the remaining 99 unicorns, which operate across 12 different sectors In terms of segments, ecommerce is the biggest employer, with 1 Lakh+ employees, followed by fintech and edtech At a time when Indian startups are infamous for handing out pink slips every now and then, the role of Indian unicorns in creating employment opportunities in the country must not be overlooked. According to Inc42’s ‘Decoding India’s Unicorn Club Report, 2023’, India’s 110 Indian unicorns today employ more than 4.5 Lakh individuals directly, making the Indian startup ecosystem one of the largest job-creating industries in the country. According to data compiled by Inc42 from various sources, Flipkart is the biggest employer among Indian unicorns, as the ecommerce platform has 47,859 employees on its payroll. The ecommerce giant is trailed by edtech giant BYJU’S, boasting a workforce of over 35,000 employees, while ride-hailing platform Ola secures the third position with a strong workforce of 21,027 employees. Interestingly, the top 11 unicorns employ a similar number of people as the remaining 99 unicorns, which operate across 12 different sectors. Ecommerce, Fintech, Edtech Have The Highest Number Of Employees Analysing the trends on a segment-by-segment basis shows that ecommerce has solidified its position as a prominent choice for the Indian workforce. A noteworthy statistic reveals that over a quarter of all employees in Indian startups are engaged with the 25 ecommerce unicorns. As previously noted, Flipkart stands as the foremost contender within this category, accompanied by significant players such as IndiaMART (with 14,146 employees) and Udaan (with 11,233 employees).  Further, 17 of the 25 ecommerce unicorns have more than 1,000 employees each. Rollup unicorn GlobalBees has the smallest workforce among ecommerce unicorns, with only 188 employees, per Inc42 data. Download The Report Moving on, fintech is the second most favoured segment among startup employees, boasting an estimated workforce of 60,000 individuals working in fintech unicorns. Notably, the fintech giant, Paytm, leads the pack of fintech unicorns with a robust workforce of 19,657 employees, closely followed by PhonePe (8,883 employees), and Policybazaar (6,946 employees). Unfortunately, we lack data on the employee count for OneCard. Edtech is the third-favourite startup segment among employees with 58,755 people working across seven unicorns. BYJU’S alone accounts for nearly 60% of all employees across edtech unicorns with a 35,094-strong workforce.  Unacademy has the second-largest workforce in the segment with 7,648 employees, while Alakh Pandey’s PhysicsWallah completes the podium with 6,213 employees. Other major startup sectors in terms of the number of employees include consumer services (56,492), enterprise tech (51,420), travel tech (41,330) and logistics (34,963). Notably, these very segments have also experienced some of the harshest blows from the ongoing market corrections. According to Inc42’s ‘Indian Startup Layoff Tracker’, edtech has seen the most layoffs followed by consumer services and ecommerce. The three sectors have collectively seen 50 startups laying off 20,469 employees since last year, per the layoff tracker. ESOPs Aplenty One of the perks of working at a startup is the employee stock option programmes (ESOPs), and Indian unicorns are famous for creating wealth for their employees. Recently, Flipkart was in the news for the $700 Mn payout to thousands of its employees.   Over the past few months, Indian unicorns, including Zomato, Paytm, Policybazaar, Nazara, Swiggy, Delhivery and Rebel Foods have announced additional ESOPs or liquidity programmes. Further, per Inc42 data, Indian startup employees made $196.5 Mn through ESOP buyback programmes in 2022. However, ESOPs are generally allotted to long-term employees and a large percentage of the current crop of employees at Indian unicorns might not be eligible for such value creation. Even so, it remains a major motivation for Indian employees to seek employment at startups. Download The Report The Present And The Future Of The Indian Unicorn Job Market While more than 100 startups have conducted layoffs so far, dozens of Indian unicorns have also been guilty of firing employees as investor sentiment for startups tempered significantly over the past 18 months. As many as five unicorns – BYJU’S, Ola, Unacademy, Blinkit and Vedantu – have fired more than 1,000 employees each since the start of 2022, with BYJU’S and Ola firing nearly 2,500 employees each, per data compiled by Inc42. While it is undeniable that India’s crop of 110 unicorns – valued at a combined $347 Bn – have created lakhs of jobs, they have also been responsible for scaling up too fast, which resulted in thousands of employees losing their jobs. According to Inc42, 28,816 employees have lost their jobs since the start of 2022.  The current market sentiment, however, has seen investors advocate for sustainable growth, which, for the most part, also includes hiring responsibly.  With India’s unicorn count expected to rise to 280+ by 2030, per Inc42’s latest report, the number of jobs created by these companies will also grow at a similar pace. In the next few years, the growing number of Indian unicorns will create hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, thereby giving the country’s job market a much-needed boost. Download The Report

Live: Credit Suisse-UBS| Adani Grp Appoints New Auditor | Musk-Zuckerberg Cage Match | Newspresso Bringing you the latest from the globe on Monday morning; where hundreds of small shareholders in Credit Suisse will file a legal suit over the bank’s forced rescue merger with UBS to obtain compensation for their losses. Meanwhile, in India, top news from the business over the weekend was Deloitte resigning as auditor of Adani Group’s Port company. This resignation comes weeks after Deloitte raised concerns over the Hidenburgh report. Adani Ports has appointed MSKA Associates as the new auditor. Now, onto everything that is trending, Musk tweeted that, cage-match will be managed by Musk & Zuckerberg’s foundations and not the UFC while the live stream will be on X.com and Meta platforms. Watch this edition of Newspresso with Moneycontrol’s Stacy Pereira.Watch this edition of Newspresso with Moneycontrol’s Stacy Pereira.

Venture Studios bring structural certainty and repeatability to venture creation They identifies opportunities or problems, develops solutions along with founders, launches new companies, and provides them extensive operational and strategic support until the companies achieve PMF Studios are slightly better placed to understand markets and design exhaustive solutions as they learn from documented mistakes If venture creation is a two-stop journey, then product-market fit (PMF) is the first stop, and unlocking scale and value for customers and shareholders is the destination.  Today, we’ll focus on the first one as it is more immediate and relevant in a new start-up’s journey. PMF is a much-used, quite-misused term that declares a solution has “arrived,” and reaching PMF means coming together multiple variables: PMF = function (market, idea, team, execution)  In the current economic climate, startup founders need to be laser-focused on getting to PMF in the most capital-efficient manner. Venture studios can help founders reach PMF faster and cheaper than the status quo. This is possible due to their institutional knowledge or ‘playbooks,’ experienced internal teams that have successfully guided multiple companies to PMF, and access to sector specialists, advisors, potential buyers, and partner organizations.  Before we dive into the ‘how’, let’s get the definition of a venture studio out of the way.  “A Venture Studio is an organisation that identifies opportunities or problems, develops solutions along with founders, launches new companies, and provides them extensive operational and strategic support until the companies achieve product-market fit.”  As a process, this is what they do from ideation to execution: To better understand how these stages work, let’s take a closer look at them through a few examples. Part 1: Ideation An analysis of 100+ failed startups reported that 42% attributed their failure to misunderstanding market need, 17% attributed it to poor product solutioning and another 17% confessed to not having a successful business model. A startup founder needs to know all the pitfalls in advance and then know how to solve them. Studios are slightly better placed to understand markets and design exhaustive solutions as they learn from documented mistakes. Following is the step-by-step process in the first leg of company creation: Market research: Venture studios conduct detailed market research to identify a large unsolved pain point faced by consumers (for example, by patients, doctors, hospitals, or other stakeholders). The Studio then builds a view on a 10x better solution – leveraging insights from business and physician leaders, patients, published research, and global trends. Each short-listed concept goes through a stringent validation process involving hundreds of conversations with doctors and patients, clinical studies, and go-to-market experiments to arrive at a prioritized solution. Typically, 90% of ideas are killed ‘with conviction’ before a single dollar of equity funding is deployed. The goal is to look for large, untapped opportunities where a disruptive solution can be built in a capital-efficient manner. Talent identification: At this stage, a venture studio brings on board passionate founders with 0-1 and scale experience for the specific idea under consideration. The founders (or Entrepreneurs-in-residence) further validate the concept and build a business and operating plan.   Independent validation: Advisory board and network of experts help verify the concept and business plan. Studios also conduct mass surveys, observational studies, and social media experiments to gather opinions and learn from them. Part 2: Execution Ideas are a dime a dozen, but an idea is only as good as the execution. The transformative idea and experienced founders need to be super-charged with capital, resources, and tools to boost the chances of success. Next steps in nurturing start-ups:  Investment: Next, studios fund companies in two ways: Provide capital for the first 12-18 months of operations for newly incubated companies based on: Nature of business (care delivery intensive vs D2C products vs SaaS – all have different cost structures) Estimated timeline to prove MVP success at a unit level (e.g., for a clinic it could be the number of patients for breakeven) Human capital through a large team of in-house experts across multiple business functions. Early-stage start-ups can’t afford senior, experienced executives. For functions like marketing or product, these create fundamental set-up mistakes that can be harder to undo or redo. Studios solve this by bringing the best talent to the start-up on day 0. Studio support through Playbooks: Usually, Studios build three types of ‘playbooks’ that form their institutional knowledge or IP:  Functional playbooks: These deal with functional skills like marketing, product, talent, and legal. Central studio teams build these with experience over time, perfecting it to the granular detail. Help new companies already be smart about questions like – how to get to the first 1000 paid customers; best practices for building the best customer onboarding experience.  Strategy playbooks: Outside siloed business functions lie more significant strategic and multifunctional questions about decision-making in given constraints and timelines. When to hire senior leadership? When to launch a new city? When to pivot? – these questions are well-built within the Studio’s collective intelligence.    Innovation playbooks: This encompasses multiple daily, tactical improvements like automation, experiments, tinkering, etc., for internal and external tasks that keep the innovation quotient high. These include scrappy web-scraping code snippets, Excel macro workbooks, and even large institutional mental models for determining the R&D budget, starting new revenue lines, and defining mandates for new EIRs.  In summary, Venture Studios bring structural certainty and repeatability to venture creation. The step-by-step process will change, evolve, and improve with time, but what will remain constant is the continuous endeavor to maximise the chances of success while optimising for time, cost, and resources. And then do this not once, but again and again.

Valuing disruptive startups poses challenges due to unique business models and lack of historical financial data Alternative valuation methods include scorecard valuation, Berkus method, and incorporating non-financial metrics and intangible assets Venture capital exit method and reverse option pricing approach are also effective in valuing startups accurately The startup landscape has disrupted several business models, the impact of which we see on the operations of several businesses today. This is largely attributed to the rapid development of technology, especially in the fields of blockchain, AI-based platforms, robotics, and machine learning, in addition to the development of virtual reality and augmented reality applications.  As a result, valuing these startups and their innovative technology platforms that defy conventional valuation wisdom has become a critical challenge for appraisers and investors. That said, certain tools and methodologies help better comprehend the art of startup valuation and the technology factors that drive value. Fundamental Approaches Of Valuation  Traditionally, businesses have been valued using three fundamental approaches: the market approach, the income approach, and the cost approach.  The market approach essentially benchmarks valuation multiples derived from financial metrics such as revenue or EBITDA to that of publicly listed companies as well as recent transactions for comparable businesses. The income approach (discounted cash flow) leverages the projected future cash flows discounted for their riskiness to conclude an enterprise’s value. The cost approach determines the value of a company’s assets based on the cost to recreate or replace them. These traditional valuation approaches have limitations when assessing the potential of startups with disruptive innovations. Valuers should consider several key factors in assessing the potential of startups: Analysing The Potential Of Disruptive Innovation Or Startups The scalability of the technology is important, i.e. to determine if the technology can be easily expanded to meet the demands of a large market. Understanding the competitive landscape and assessing whether the technology is difficult to replicate. The market opportunity should be thoroughly analysed, including assessing the market’s size and growth.  Evaluating the management team’s composition, expertise, ability to think innovatively, and potential for forming strategic partnerships. Testing for the long-term focus of the company when evaluating startups, as they may involve higher risks but also hold the potential for significant long-term returns. Ascertaining if the laws and regulatory conditions are favourable for the technology to thrive. Let us consider a case study of Airbnb, an online marketplace that allows people to rent out their properties to travelers. To assess the potential of Airbnb, we need to understand its business plan and platform. Airbnb developed a robust and scalable technology infrastructure that could handle a large volume of listings, bookings, and transactions. Due to Airbnb’s significant investment in technology and infrastructure, including advanced algorithms and data analytics, it becomes challenging for competitors to enter their market and diminish their market share. These investments have enhanced the user experience, provided personalized recommendations, and increased customer engagement.  As a result, it is difficult for competitors to replicate Airbnb’s success and make a significant impact in their competitive space. Airbnb has an experienced management team with Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia as its cofounders. They founded the company in 2008 and under Chesky’s leadership, Airbnb grew from a small startup to a multi-billion-dollar company.  The platform has expanded globally, offering millions of listings in over 200 countries and regions. Furthermore, the team has a long-term focus on introducing sponsored listings and an advertising network as potential avenues to generate additional revenue for the company. Transcending Conventional Metrics: Embracing An Innovative Approach For companies in their early stages, it is difficult to predict future cash flows accurately, accounting for both specific and systematic risks, and capture the changing risk-return profile as time goes on. To resolve this, certain methods that heavily rely on operational indicators, such as customer count or click rates, aim to compensate for the lack of information or readiness regarding the operational business model of a startup, including its organizational and cost structures.  Methods based on financial indicators, such as revenue and EBITDA, face the challenge of no/low revenue or negative earnings during the initial phase of losses as startups focus on developing and refining their products or services. In other words, the unique innovation brought by a particular startup cannot be adequately captured by comparing it with other companies using price multiples, as their business models are inherently distinct.  Furthermore, startups/early-stage companies lack historical financial data, making it challenging to evaluate their financial performance and growth potential. These challenges collectively make it crucial for investors and stakeholders to employ innovative approaches and adapt valuation methodologies to accurately assess the worth of startups. Emerging Alternative Startup Valuation Methods Scorecard valuation method: The scorecard valuation method, also known as the Bill Payne valuation method, involves comparing the target startup with other similar startups that have received funding based on various factors such as their stage of development, market segment, and geographic location.  Berkus method: The Berkus method is a valuation approach that emphasizes the potential rather than the current performance of a startup. First, an estimate is made of the total cost incurred in developing the startup’s product or service. Next, the value of the startup’s intellectual property is assessed. This encompasses any patents, copyrights, or trademarks that the startup possesses and adds value to its offerings. Finally, the two values of development cost and intellectual property value are combined to determine the overall value of the startup. Incorporating non-financial metrics and intangible assets: Valuation models should include non-financial metrics and intangible assets to capture the unique value of startups such as user engagement, website traction, intellectual property, team experience, brand recognition, and regulatory environment. These metrics may include user bases or customer-related factors such as the number of active users, customer acquisition costs (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLTV), churn rate, or average revenue per user (ARPU). These metrics may include product-related factors such as product usage rate, customer satisfaction score (CSAT), net promoter score (NPS), or product development cycle time. Venture

One of the biggest challenges small business owners and self-employed professionals face is saving for retirement. While employed professionals often have specific and established retirement options through their employers, funding a retirement plan as a small business owner or sole proprietor isn’t as clear-cut. However, there are several ways you can save for retirement in addition to the traditional 401(k). Here are several options for saving for retirement as a small business owner, even if you’re a sole proprietor. photo credit: LinkedIn Sales Solutions / Unsplash Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan is an individual retirement account (IRA) that you can set up as a self-employed individual. You’re allowed a tax deduction for the contributions you make to a SEP IRA, and your business doesn’t have to pay taxes on the investment earnings. As a small business owner with employees, establishing a SEP IRA for eligible staff can also be beneficial, as you can still deduct contributions you make to each employee’s account. When covering eligible staff, the term “employee” also extends to you as long as you receive income from your business. Another advantage to SEP IRAs is that you’re not obligated to make contributions every year. This means that you can determine each year how much to contribute to your employees’ accounts and whether to contribute at all. You may also be eligible for up to $500 in tax credits over the first several years to cover the costs of starting your SEP plan. Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA lets you contribute to traditional IRAs that you establish for yourself and your staff. SIMPLE IRAs are available to just about any small business with 100 or fewer employees. Your employees may also contribute to SIMPLE IRAs. For employers who aren’t able to sponsor traditional retirement plans, SIMPLE IRAs make an ideal way to save for retirement. One of the biggest advantages of a SIMPLE IRA is that it can provide a substantial source of retirement income by enabling you and your staff to set money aside in a retirement account. SIMPLE IRAs also don’t come with the same costs to start and maintain as a traditional retirement plan does. Small business owners with employees are typically required to contribute every year in one of two ways, either by matching employees’ contributions up to 3% of the compensation or by a 2% non-elective contribution for each eligible staff member. Employees can also contribute a portion of their salaries to their SIMPLE IRAs, but this contribution can’t exceed $15,000. Fixed Annuities If you’re self-employed and the sole proprietor of your business, a fixed annuity can offer a potential approach to saving for retirement. With fixed annuities, self-employed individuals can build up and then convert their savings into a reliable stream of payments during retirement. There are several types of annuities, with fixed annuities being an accessible option for self-employed professionals. A fixed annuity is a type of insurance contract that allows you to contribute a certain amount, where the insurance company agrees to pay you a fixed interest rate over a specific period of time. Fixed annuities provide a level of security with predictable income payments during retirement. It should be noted that there may be penalties if you decide to withdraw from your savings early. 401(k) Plans for Small Businesses Small business owners and sole proprietors also have the option to set up independent or solo 401(k) plans. An independent 401(k) establishes a retirement savings account for small businesses and is an ideal choice for sole proprietors and independent contractors. With a solo 401(k), you’re the employee and the employer. This means the only eligible participants are the business owner and their spouse if the spouse is also employed within the business. A common misconception about the independent 401(k) is that it’s only available to sole proprietors or self-employed individuals. In reality, any small business can establish an independent 401(k), provided that the only eligible plan holder is the business owner. Because of this, some businesses may find it more beneficial to consider alternative retirement options, like fixed annuities or various IRAs. Saving for retirement as a small business owner can be challenging, but with the options available, you can determine the best way to set up and secure your finances. Depending on the size of your business and your eligibility, these retirement options can provide an ideal starting point.