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Walk through every cost and revenue assumption in your business model using structured checklists. Surfaces hidden risks, flags unknowns, and builds a complete assumptions map.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
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| name | sys:assumptions-audit |
| description | Walk through every cost and revenue assumption in your business model using structured checklists. Surfaces hidden risks, flags unknowns, and builds a complete assumptions map. |
| argument-hint | [optional: specific area to focus on, e.g. 'revenue funnel' or 'COGS'] |
From Save Your Startup by Rick Manelius (Chapter 4) Original framework by Rick Manelius
"90 percent of startup founders are either unwilling or unable to do this until someone forces them to do it."
"The numbers don't add up differently the more you look at them." -- Miguel Galindo
Every business plan is a stack of assumptions. Most founders know their top-line numbers but have never pressure-tested the dozens of smaller assumptions holding those numbers up. This audit forces you to look at every one of them, flag the ones you are guessing on, and decide which guesses could kill you.
I will walk you through eight categories -- four on the cost side, four on the revenue side. For each one, I will ask you specific questions. Your job is to answer honestly, even when the answer is "I don't know" or "I'm guessing."
We will mark every assumption with one of three confidence levels:
At the end, we will have a complete map of your assumptions with the dangerous unknowns flagged.
Before we dive into categories, I need some context:
Once I have that, we will work through the categories below. I will take them one at a time so it does not feel like a spreadsheet dump.
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
I will ask about:
When we are done, you will have:
Let's begin. Tell me about your business and where you are today.
