finance

about this book:

Few entrepreneurs are finance experts, but they need to have some basic understanding of finance to run their business. No investor will give them money unless they can demonstrate some ability to comprehend a financial model.

Such a financial model answer several key questions: Does their business idea make financial sense? How long will it take to break-even, what will my run rate when my business breaks even, how much money will I burn before turning a profit? These are some of the most important questions on every entrepreneur’s mind.

Naeem Zafar’s new book, Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, is a startup owner’s indispensable guide to basic finance. Zafar draws on two decades of entrepreneurial experience to create an eBook that offers a simple, proven method for understanding the most important elements of financial management for businesses.

Written by a seasoned entrepreneur with no formal education in finance, this nuts-and-bolts guide to business finance is crucial to succeeding as an entrepreneur. You don’t need a graduate-level course to understand the concepts laid out in this easy to read eBook.

In Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, you will learn:

•How to figure out what basic assumptions will drive your business

•How to establish key performance indicators and how to compare your assumptions against the industry’s standards

•How to build a revenue model and estimate your income and expenses five years out

•Step-by-step instructions for building an income statement that offers a clear picture of your business’s finances

Zafar teaches entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. He has mentored hundreds of budding entrepreneurs and helped launch numerous successful startups.

Zafar understands what entrepreneurs need to know about business finance. He also knows that their time is precious. In Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, he delivers that knowledge in practical, to-the-point language free of technical jargon and longwinded discourses. Spreadsheet examples are clear and relevant.

You will return to Essential Finance for Entrepreneurs again and again for guidance and advice. Do you want a leg up when it comes to understanding the money side of your business? This book will be an investment that will pay dividends time over time!

reviews:

"Practical, Invaluable, and Easy-to-read, 'Financial Essentials For Entrepreneurs' demystifies the complex financial theories for entrepreneurs. Simply put, the book covers everything that an entrepreneur needs to know to build financial models and convince investors. Naeem truly delivers an essential reference for every entrepreneur."

-Santhosh Vasanthakumar, Marketing - Juniper Networks

"This eBook is more than a finance primer. It provides the framework for a entrepreneur to stay focused on their business. Very few ventures start by defining their key performance indicators (KPIs) and even fewer track these KPIs and the business assumptions around it. The insights from this book have not only helped me re-focus the product strategy but immensely simplified my day-to-day decision making."

-Amit Gupta, Director - Product Management, Ensim Corp.

I have known Naeem as someone with crisp thoughts and extreme passion for entrepreneurship. "Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs" is his latest attempt at sharing his abundant experience and knowledge with fellow and would-be entrepreneurs. Simple, concise and meaningful - that is what this book is. It is an excellent primer to non-financial folks of the start-up world. Highly recommended!

Praveen Janapareddy, Senior Manager, Oracle Corp.

"When you write a b-plan and pitch it to the VCs, everything they see is in the numbers and Naeem, in this short book, explains how to present the numbers to VCs. As an MBA student, I can tell you that to obtain the content in this e-book elsewhere, you would need to read at least a dozen books, attend a dozen classes, and spend few hundred dollars. This book offers real value for your time and money."

'Satheesh Nanniyur'
QLogic Corporation
Sr. Staff Product Manager