CFA Incubator Support Program

Please find here the schedule as well as recorded webinars as part of the CFA Incubator Support Program

• Session 1: Business Model Canvas - 1-page Business Plan

• Session 2: Financial Modeling 1: Intro to Financial Modeling and Financial Statements

• Session 3: Financial Modeling 2: Projecting Costs and Revenues

• Session 4: Preparing an Investor Deck

• Session 5. Donors and Investors — Special Guests TBD

Resource material for Incubator teams - Many thanks to Mike Malloy for some materials below!
Descriptions are adapted from the documents’ text.

What Is Strategy? - Michael E. Porter

This chapter in the Harvard Business Review dissects the difference between Operational Effectiveness and Strategy.

Operational Effectiveness, as defined by this chapter written by Michael E. Porter, means performing similar activities better than rivals perform them. Operational Effectiveness includes but is not limited to efficiency. It refers to any number of practices that allow a company to better utilize its inputs by, for example, reducing defects in products or developing better products faster.

Stressing that competitive strategy is about being different, projects that are facing competition from other like-minded conservation finance practitioners and entrepreneurs can use the material in this chapter to better approach the difference between Operational Effectiveness and Strategy in order to find the ‘Entrepreneurial Edge’ required to find success.

AIDA Sales Model

This document presents the AIDA Sales Model, which is comprised of 4 distinct phases; Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Simple Business Plan

This document serves as basic guidance for the development of a Business Plan. Providing general descriptions of the various sections within a Business Plan, this guide can be useful for those who are still in the very early stages of the startup process. This document also contains a link to more resources.

Business Plan Presentation template

This document serves as a basic outline for the presentation of a Business Plan. This is useful to use as a guide when transferring a Business Plan onto a Powerpoint document.

More developed Business Plan Presentation template

While the above document offers a basic outline for the presentation of a Business Plan, this document offers a more developed a detailed template for a Business Plan in powerpoint format.

Blank Financial Statement

This document provides entrepreneurs with a financial statement template that can be used to build a more customized financial statement. As major elements in any financial statement are present in this document, it may be helpful if you have not created a formal statement previously.

Feasibility Study Outline for Conservation Finance Solutions

A feasibility study should determine if a specific finance solution or mechanism is likely to achieve its stated objectives in a given country or situation. Ideally a feasibility study will produce two major outcomes: 1) a clear indication of likelihood of success and 2) identification of key design features that optimize chances of success and minimize risks (including social and environmental safeguards). The following feasibility study outline can be used for a wide range of finance solutions.

Business Model Canvas

This document from COWAN+ as well as the resources available in the link within the document give you the structure of a business plan without the overhead and the improvisation of a clear ‘back of the napkin’ sketch.

The first document is an explanation on how to use the Canvas, the second document is an editable version for project use, and the third document is a detailed presentation on the Canvas for additional reference.

Sales Strategy Template - Close.io

This template helps entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of creating a sales strategy in order to accomplish two important objectives: 1) translation of company goals into sales and 2) the alignment of your sales team’s day-to-day actions with the company’s priorities.

Due to the nature of sales strategies and the fact that there are no one-size-fits all solutions, this document is a good starting point for entrepreneurs that are aiming to achieve various conservation goals.

Developing Your Pricing Strategy - Christopher O’Donnell

This document walks entrepreneurs through the development of a robust and validated pricing strategy. Certain specific concepts discussed in this document include Revenue Optimization, Unit Sales Maximization, and Value Perception.

The document also includes exercises that you can use to further enhance your own pricing strategies and further help you understand possible weaknesses in your current strategy.

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) - Mike Malloy

This document teaches entrepreneurs how to utilize the Objectives and Key Results (OKR), the best practice of setting and communicating company, team and employee objectives and measuring their progress based on achieved results. Full of case studies and input from CEOs of successful companies such as Linkedin, and Swipely, this document also contains links to very informative YouTube videos for start-ups on how Google sets goals and OKRs for themselves.