Strong Business Models

to Revenues
April 2024

June W Choi, Managing Partner - Serval Ventures

emerging tech & infrastructure
venture builder & investor
focus on data-heavy startups with diverse teams
bringing transformative solutions to market
Investors don’t fund ideas
Ideas are common

Strong product & business models, traction, &

execution attract investments
Market positioning
Where are you in the market, where are you targeting?

● Are you in a crowded market? Are you unique?

● Customers need to be able to find you.

● The best tech/products don’t always win in the market.

● Customers will pay for new, bold, great.

Market positioning determines what people are willing to pay.

 Business models should
tell a strong story in
numbers
Numbers are the language of business, so you
need to get comfortable and fluent in it
 Need a good financial model
Helps develop your business model
● Understand how best to prioritize limited resources
● Allows internal scenarios testing - pricing, target numbers
● Clarify potential boundaries - faster decision-making & action

Representation of your roadmap in numbers

● Is believable, yet conveys your ambition, clearly correlating
growth with product/company milestones
● Treat & maintain as a living document
Thoughtful market sizing is critical for
the financial model
Pricing

Creative Pricing
● reduce friction
subscription/SaaS ● dynamic pricing
● wholesale rather than
retail customer acquisition
 Early pricing goals

Convey value of Get to revenues soon

product to entice
customers to pay
 Musts for financial models

Clearly Ideally show Show min

defensible revenues by $10M
revenues by
revenue Y2, profits Y5 to get
assumptions by Y3 investment
A robust data strategy
can augment your
pricing, expand your
revenues possibilities,
and increase your
valuation
 Developing your ESG
positioning, strategy, and
values will help land
customers & increase
valuation
Thank you & Good luck!
June W Choi
Serval Ventures
www.servalventures.com