building blocks planning for tech startups

Building Blocks Planning

Mick Liubinskas

@liubinskas

mrfocus.co

Mick Liubinskas @liubinskas mrfocus.co

4 tech companies

2 exits

CMO for Kazaa

EIR at muru-D


Boost VC

Singularity University

500 Startups


Got big

ambitions?


Business plans

for everyone!


Worked with

100+ startups

over 10 years


All work hard.

Few have a plan.

Many fail.


“Can’t plan,

too busy!”


“Planning is

boring!”


“Plans will

be wrong!”


Plans are useless,

Planning is critical


Infinite

possibilities


Sequences &

Consequences


A good story


An engineer's approach

to planning scale:

Building Block

Planning


• Seed to Series B

Crazy simple, but

crazy useful

Create 10 blocks

Where are you

now?

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Where do you

want to go?

$10B Valuation

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to

build on the block below

$10B Valuation

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

Enterprise: 5 brand customers

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

SME: 1,000 free MAU

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

100 customers + $200k MRR

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

250 customers + $5m ARR

Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

Raise $15m


Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

Launch 2 products + global

Raise $15m


Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation

2,000 customers + $20m ARR


Raise $15m


Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Each block needs to


$10B Valuation




Raise $15m


Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k


Build down

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5

$100k ACV x 1,000 customers

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Raise $20m

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Raise $20m

$3m ARR

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Raise $20m

$3m ARR

300 customers

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Raise $20m

$3m ARR

300 customers

Raise $3m

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

What do you

need to do to

achieve that?

Check that it builds

up ok too

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Raise $20m

$3m ARR

300 customers

Raise $3m

Bring on growth team

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

Up Down

$10B Valuation




Raise $15m


Launch 2nd product

Raise $3m


Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k

$10B Valuation

$100M in year 5


3 products

Raise $20m

$3m ARR

300 customers

Raise $3m

Bring on growth team

Team x 3 + $75k MRR + $750k


Challenge the sequence:

Team and advisors


Do 10 stacks to discover

blindspots and opportunities


Everything changes,

a lot, always.

Revisit: Revenue, raising, yearly

Case study:

Data Company

$30m ARR

Launch data platform

Raise $20m

Acquire 2 companies

Product 2: $250k MRR

V3 + 2nd language: $100kMRR

Raise $1.5m

V2, 2,000 trials, $25kMRR

100 trials, 10DAU, 2 paying

2 devs simple version, put online

Case study:

Disrupt Sports

$100m ARR = $1B

Buy manufacturing plants

Raise $20m

$50m ARR

Launch SME + Consumer

$15m ARR

Raise $8m + Sales Team

$3m ARR / manufacturing API

Multi-products, multi-mkts, $1m

Test platform with surfing

Case study:

Facebook

3B users + FB@work

IPO + 70 acquisitions

Focus on mobile

Build Facebook login

Build custom ad platform

Open to education globally

Raise $500k from Peter Thiel

All US colleges, 1m MAU

Get critical mass at Harvard

1 dev: Build simple tool for friends

Case study from

audience


●Each block has to be built on

a strong foundation

Appreciate the consequences

of your sequences

Do 10 stacks