Three Numbers That Decide Everything: A Quick Guide for Investors and Founders
1. Manufacturing: count efficiency, not turnover
Manufacturing companies rarely surprise with loud press releases — the main thing here is what remains “inside”. The founder must be ready to provide P&L (profit and loss statement), show the cost structure and production plans. The investor needs real data, he must know how things really are.
Important: production often requires large investments - from several hundred thousand to millions of dollars. The payback period depends on the scale, but in a business with a clear economy, it is usually stable.
Manufacturing companies rarely surprise with loud press releases — the main thing here is what remains “inside”. The founder must be ready to provide P&L (profit and loss statement), show the cost structure and production plans. The investor needs real data, he must know how things really are.
- Cost of goods sold (COGS) reflects real profit, not turnover. These are direct costs of creating a product — materials, labor, equipment depreciation. The lower the COGS with stable revenue, the higher the margin. This is the basic metric of profitability. High cost is a signal for analyzing processes and finding optimization points.
- Inventory turnover shows the efficiency of logistics and demand. Data is taken from the accounting and warehouse system. Shows how quickly money frozen in the product turns back into cash.
- Production efficiency: how much product is created per unit of resources. The metric is tracked within the production.
Important: production often requires large investments - from several hundred thousand to millions of dollars. The payback period depends on the scale, but in a business with a clear economy, it is usually stable.
2. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain: not tokens, but behavior.
There is a lot of noise, hype and beautiful websites in this area. But the prospects of a blockchain project are assessed based on completely different indicators. In fact, all the data is open. They can be checked in blockchain explorers or on independent international analytical platforms (Dune, DeFiLlama, Token Terminal). Three fundamental metrics are important:
Fundamentally: the entry threshold for investments can start from $10,000–100,000, this should be taken into account at the IDO/Seed stage. Investors usually take profits when the token grows, or during its listing (the token starts trading on the exchange) and when its capitalization increases. But for an investor, any of these strategies is risky.
There is a lot of noise, hype and beautiful websites in this area. But the prospects of a blockchain project are assessed based on completely different indicators. In fact, all the data is open. They can be checked in blockchain explorers or on independent international analytical platforms (Dune, DeFiLlama, Token Terminal). Three fundamental metrics are important:
- Total Value Locked (TVL)
- Daily Active Users (DAU)
- Token Retention Rate
Fundamentally: the entry threshold for investments can start from $10,000–100,000, this should be taken into account at the IDO/Seed stage. Investors usually take profits when the token grows, or during its listing (the token starts trading on the exchange) and when its capitalization increases. But for an investor, any of these strategies is risky.
Don't say: "We have a cool idea." Just name three numbers!
It would seem like an ideal situation: one is looking for money to develop a business, the other is ready to invest. But very often, already at the first meeting, both are talking about different things, not understanding each other. The founder talks about the product, clients and plans, while the investor wants to make sure that he is not looking at a beautiful "bubble," but a truly viable, growing project. It is important for him to know what he will get or how he will return the investment, in the form of: profit, growth, buyout of a share.
LLC "EIFOS HUB" company has already written about how to interest an investor and attract his attention in one minute. This new article is a cheat sheet for both those who are looking for money and for those who are ready to invest it. We speak the language of both founders and investors. And we know how to turn ideas into sustainable results.
Where to start?
You should start with an honest question: how effective is the business and how realistic is the idea? And it doesn’t matter whether you are an investor studying projects or a founder preparing for negotiations. In both cases, you need to know three basic numbers that give you an understanding: does the model work, is there growth, and how high are the risks.
Below are five industries and three numbers that you need to look at first. If you are an investor, this data will help you quickly weed out weak projects. If you are an entrepreneur, they will show what exactly you should be able to show and prove.
It would seem like an ideal situation: one is looking for money to develop a business, the other is ready to invest. But very often, already at the first meeting, both are talking about different things, not understanding each other. The founder talks about the product, clients and plans, while the investor wants to make sure that he is not looking at a beautiful "bubble," but a truly viable, growing project. It is important for him to know what he will get or how he will return the investment, in the form of: profit, growth, buyout of a share.
LLC "EIFOS HUB" company has already written about how to interest an investor and attract his attention in one minute. This new article is a cheat sheet for both those who are looking for money and for those who are ready to invest it. We speak the language of both founders and investors. And we know how to turn ideas into sustainable results.
Where to start?
You should start with an honest question: how effective is the business and how realistic is the idea? And it doesn’t matter whether you are an investor studying projects or a founder preparing for negotiations. In both cases, you need to know three basic numbers that give you an understanding: does the model work, is there growth, and how high are the risks.
Below are five industries and three numbers that you need to look at first. If you are an investor, this data will help you quickly weed out weak projects. If you are an entrepreneur, they will show what exactly you should be able to show and prove.
3. SaaS projects: subscription as a foundation of business
Subscription programs have long been the basis of the B2B market. SaaS companies usually have recurring payments, which gives investors more confidence in the future. But to distinguish a potential unicorn from a project without prospects, it is worth evaluating:
Important: Some data can be obtained from CRM systems (for example, the number of clients, how many sales there were, who returns), some - from payment services (what amounts go through, transactions and returns). Investments in SaaS are often directed to product development, marketing, team expansion. The return on investment comes through the growth of dividends - MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) or the investor sells his part or the entire business.
4. E-commerce: the logic of numbers and buyer emotions
Online business seems to be the new gold mine of our century. At first glance, everything is quite simple: showed the product, received the order. But inside any, even a small, online store and dropshipping business, there is subtle mathematics of unit economics.
The investor and owner care about numbers:
Important: Investment funds are usually used to purchase traffic or improve logistics. The investor returns the investment when the company scales or during its growth period.
5. Fintech: stability is more important than scale
In the world of fintech, everything revolves around money. This is an area where not only technology is important, but also trust. Users quickly leave if something is unstable. To understand how viable a fintech project is, they study reports on payments and overdue payments, API, and regulatory reporting.
First of all, they consider:
Retention rate
How many users continue to use the product after 1, 3, 6 months? Do users return? This means the product solves the problem.
Fundamentally: An investor leaves when he sees no prospects: no growth, no profit, no stability. If metrics are falling, money is spent chaotically, there is no strategy or transparency. The return of funds depends on the business model, these can be: commissions on transactions, regular subscriptions or exit through commissions, subscriptions, sale of shares.
In any field – be it manufacturing, fintech or blockchain – business has its own essence, and it is almost always reflected in numbers. It is not necessary to understand the nuances of the industry to understand whether you have a sustainable project or a beautiful wrapper.
Select three metrics. Look at them carefully. For those looking for investors, LLC "EIFOS HUB" will assign a personal consultant who will help collect metrics, prepare transparent analytics, and draw up a financial model. If you are an investor, LLC "EIFOS HUB" will check the business, assess the risks and tell you where the numbers promise real growth.
Subscription programs have long been the basis of the B2B market. SaaS companies usually have recurring payments, which gives investors more confidence in the future. But to distinguish a potential unicorn from a project without prospects, it is worth evaluating:
- MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
- Churn rate
- Net revenue retention (NRR)
Important: Some data can be obtained from CRM systems (for example, the number of clients, how many sales there were, who returns), some - from payment services (what amounts go through, transactions and returns). Investments in SaaS are often directed to product development, marketing, team expansion. The return on investment comes through the growth of dividends - MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) or the investor sells his part or the entire business.
4. E-commerce: the logic of numbers and buyer emotions
Online business seems to be the new gold mine of our century. At first glance, everything is quite simple: showed the product, received the order. But inside any, even a small, online store and dropshipping business, there is subtle mathematics of unit economics.
The investor and owner care about numbers:
- LTV/CAC ratio
- Average check
- Conversion in sales
Important: Investment funds are usually used to purchase traffic or improve logistics. The investor returns the investment when the company scales or during its growth period.
5. Fintech: stability is more important than scale
In the world of fintech, everything revolves around money. This is an area where not only technology is important, but also trust. Users quickly leave if something is unstable. To understand how viable a fintech project is, they study reports on payments and overdue payments, API, and regulatory reporting.
First of all, they consider:
- Transaction volume
- Share of overdue obligations
Retention rate
How many users continue to use the product after 1, 3, 6 months? Do users return? This means the product solves the problem.
Fundamentally: An investor leaves when he sees no prospects: no growth, no profit, no stability. If metrics are falling, money is spent chaotically, there is no strategy or transparency. The return of funds depends on the business model, these can be: commissions on transactions, regular subscriptions or exit through commissions, subscriptions, sale of shares.
In any field – be it manufacturing, fintech or blockchain – business has its own essence, and it is almost always reflected in numbers. It is not necessary to understand the nuances of the industry to understand whether you have a sustainable project or a beautiful wrapper.
Select three metrics. Look at them carefully. For those looking for investors, LLC "EIFOS HUB" will assign a personal consultant who will help collect metrics, prepare transparent analytics, and draw up a financial model. If you are an investor, LLC "EIFOS HUB" will check the business, assess the risks and tell you where the numbers promise real growth.
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