Business Valuation

A business valuation
you can defend in the room

Valuation is an argument you have to win. 3 methods, every assumption stated, the report and the model in your hands.

Talk to a finance partner How we value

A commercial valuation for negotiation and planning. We do not issue certified appraisals

Selected clients across the US, GCC and Europe

Case studies

2 valuations, and the input each one turned on

One where the goodwill looked wrong and was not. One where the discount rate had to be built rather than borrowed.

When you need one

4 moments where the number has to hold up

Business valuation work divides into 4 situations, and the method changes with each. A valuation for a term sheet is not built like one for a share transfer, and pretending otherwise is how founders lose the argument.

Raising a round

  • A pre-money position you can justify line by line
  • Dilution and option pool modeled before you negotiate
  • Comparable multiples an investor will recognize
  • The downside case argued rather than avoided

Buying or selling

  • Acquisition pricing with synergies stated separately
  • Exit valuation ahead of a sale process
  • Sanity check on a price already on the table
  • Earn-out structures modeled

Equity & ESOP

  • Share price for an option grant or ESOP pool
  • Founder or co-founder share transfers
  • Buying out an early shareholder
  • A defensible basis for internal equity decisions

Lenders & planning

  • Enterprise value for a lender or credit committee
  • Covenant headroom against asset and earnings value
  • Board planning and long-range target setting
  • A baseline to measure the next 2 years against
Method

3 methods, cross-checked against each other

1 method produces a number. 3 produce a range, and the gaps are where the real conversation happens. We show all 3 and explain which we weight.

How we build the number
Discounted cash flowBuilt off the driver-based model, with the discount rate and terminal assumptions stated openly rather than buried.
Market multiplesComparable public and private companies on revenue and EBITDA, with the reason each comparable was chosen or rejected.
Precedent transactionsActual deals in your sector and stage, adjusted for size and timing rather than quoted raw.
Sensitivity across all 3What moves the number most, so you know which assumption to defend hardest.
What we will not do
Work backwards from your targetIf you want a number justified, hire someone else. We build it forward and tell you where it lands.
Issue a formal opinionWe are not a licensed appraiser and this is not a certified appraisal for tax or court purposes.
Value what cannot be evidencedPre-revenue with no pricing and no comparable market is a conversation. There is nothing there to value yet.
Hide the assumptionsEvery input is on one sourced sheet. If a figure is judgment, the report says so.
Process

10 business days, 4 stages

The clock starts on the deposit and the questionnaire.

4 steps
  1. Days 1 to 2
    01
    Basis

    Purpose

    We establish what the valuation is for and who will challenge it, because that decides the method weighting.

  2. Days 3 to 6
    02

    Build

    Cash flows from your actuals, comparables screened and justified, and precedent deals gathered and adjusted.

  3. Days 7 to 8
    03
    Cross-check

    Reconcile

    We explain the spread between methods, weight them, and stress the assumptions you are least sure of.

  4. Days 9 to 10
    04
    Defend

    Report

    A written report you can hand to a board or an investor, plus the model, plus a walkthrough of both.

Independence

Nothing in our fee depends on the answer

A number is only worth what the independence behind it is worth.

What we do not have
Nothing to license youNo platform, seat or subscription, so no conclusion of ours quietly routes you toward a product we own.
No audit to protectWe do not audit or attest, so we are never signing an opinion while depending on management staying happy with us.
No success feeThe fee is fixed in writing before we begin. It does not rise with the number we arrive at, or with the deal closing.
What that buys you
A number we will defendIncluding when it is lower than you hoped. There is no version of this engagement where we are paid more for optimism.
Blunt on a thin assumptionWe can say an input does not hold, because nothing of ours is at risk if we do.
One fee, agreed up frontNo hourly meter, so thoroughness costs you nothing extra and there is no incentive to stretch the work.
A valuation report open at the assumptions page
Under challenge

A valuation is argued

3 methods, cross-checked, with every assumption written where the other side can read it.

Pricing

Priced on complexity alone

Our fee never moves with the number we produce, because a valuer paid more for a higher answer is not a valuer.

Business valuation | fixed fee
Scope 1

Early stage

$2,500/ valuation

Single entity, one revenue line, pre-seed through seed. Usually for a round, an option grant or an early share transfer.

  • 3 methods, cross-checked
  • Written report with sourced assumptions
  • Working valuation model handed over
  • One revision round and a walkthrough
Scope 2

Growth stage

$4,500/ valuation

Multiple revenue lines or layered economics: subscription cohorts, marketplace take rates, multi-payer revenue, or a Series A to C round.

  • Everything in Scope 1
  • Cohort or unit-economics build under the DCF
  • Wider comparable screen with rejection rationale
  • Dilution, option pool and waterfall modeling
  • 2 revision rounds
Scope 3

Complex

$7,500/ valuation

Multi-entity or multi-currency groups, acquisition and exit work, earn-outs, or a number that will be argued across a negotiating table.

  • Everything in Scope 2
  • Group consolidation and intercompany treatment
  • Synergies valued and stated separately
  • Earn-out and deal structure scenarios
  • Attendance at the board or investor session

These are the published figures, fixed in writing before work begins. Every other fee we charge sits on one page.

Compare with every other fee

Fees are fixed before work begins and never contingent on the valuation reached. This is a commercial valuation for negotiation, board and planning use. We do not issue certified appraisals. If you already have a driver-based model with us, the fee reflects it.

Questions

Asked before every valuation

Is this a certified appraisal?

No. This is a commercial valuation for negotiation, planning and board use. If you need a certified appraisal for tax or court, you need a licensed appraiser and we will say so.

Can you value a pre-revenue company?

Sometimes, from comparable early rounds and a scenario-weighted forward view. With no pricing, no cost base and no comparables, it is a negotiation rather than a valuation.

Will you match our target number?

No. We build it forward and tell you where it lands. A valuation shaped to a target is worth nothing the first time someone tests it.

Do we get a single number or a range?

Both. A range from the 3 methods, and a weighted point within it with the reasoning stated. A board will ask for one, an investor will test the other.

What do you need from us?

Historic actuals, current pricing, the cap table and any recent offers or comparable rounds you know of. One call and a questionnaire covers the rest.

How long does it stay valid?

Practically, 1 to 2 quarters, or until something material changes. We date every assumption so it is obvious when the number needs refreshing.

How much of our time will this take?

One call and a data request, around 2 hours. Most of the work happens on our side.

What do we keep at the end?

The working model with all 3 methods visible, so you can rerun it when the facts change.

Related

A valuation is only as good as the model under it

If your model is not driver-based, that is the first job. If the round is next, the materials need to say the same thing as the valuation.

Financial models & FP&A The driver-based model a DCF is built on Investor materials Decks, plans and teasers that read from the same numbers Fractional CFO & controller Someone senior opposite the investor through the negotiation
Sensitivity surface

A number you can defend in the room

Value is a range before it is a number. We show how it moves as the assumptions move, so the figure survives the question that follows it.

Contact

Know the number
before they ask

Book a call and get a fixed-fee scope within 24 hours. Tell us what the valuation is for.

Talk to a finance partner
What happens next
  • 1

    Free consultation

    What the valuation is for, who will test it, and which method should carry the weight.

  • 2

    Fixed-fee scope

    Scope, timeline and price in writing within 24 hours, never contingent on the number.

  • 3

    Deposit and questionnaire

    50% deposit, actuals and cap table start the 10 business days.

  • 4

    Report and walkthrough

    The written report, the model, and a session so you can defend both.

Further reading

Before you commission anything

Written by the partners, from work we have actually done. Free, and no sequence attached.

READWhat a business valuation costsWhat drives the fee, and when you need the pricier product.Read it READCommercial valuation or a certified appraisalWhen you need the one we do not do.Read it READ409A valuation or a business valuationSame words, two entirely different exercises.Read it