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The Bridge
2/20/2023
On a school run five years ago, I asked my eight-year-old daughter the usual question...
On a school run five years ago, I asked my eight-year-old daughter the usual question...
On a school run five years ago, I asked my eight-year-old daughter the usual question:
"So, what did you do at school today?"
Normally, as you may also experience, you don't get that much of an exciting response.
But on this occasion, my eldest daughter explained that they'd been given a challenge in Science to build a bridge between two tables, using only paper and Sellotape, that could support a 500g weight.
And her bridge won!
Naturally, I was chuffed to hear about her win. But then she went on to explain that her bridge could hold a lot more weight than the 500g. So much so that the teacher went out to the storeroom to bring in more weight.
"So, how much weight was this!?"
“8kg!”
How amazing is that.
I was just trying to understand this – “how did you build a bridge that could hold 8kg between two tables?!”
Later when we got home, she showed me. It was basically an absolute brick of paper and Sellotape wrapped up. Given the amount of paper and Sellotape she’s got through in eight years, I'm not surprised she could do something with these materials.
It reminded me so much of businesses I've been working with – when they present their forecast to investors, it's going to be stress tested. Investors are going to ask you questions.
The response you want from investors after your answer, whether explicitly or in their body language or reaction, is "I was not expecting this!"
This could be down to a number of things. Maybe your forecast is well engineered. It's not just quickly fashioned together. Or your cashflow forecast unwinds your balance sheet, with income and cost drivers that are clearly marked and easy to follow.
As I've said before, a forecast is just a bunch of ifs. So, how good are your ifs?
The ifs driving your forecast need to be credible. This drives conversation and engagement. Just like 20 kids building bridges, the teachers/investors want to see ones that can take the weight.
If you've had a similar experience, where you've presented to an investor and got a great response, please let us know. Likewise, if your kids also surprised you with what they got up to at school, we’d love to hear your stories!
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