Continuing from last week’s post on how to think about Enterprise Value in VC‑type, early‑stage companies, I want to push the conversation a step further and talk about calibration — a concept that sits at the heart of valuation in an ASC 820 / IPEV‑compliant framework. Calibration is one of those ideas that sounds abstract until you actually apply it. But in practice, it’s the discipline that keeps early‑stage valuation from drifting into storytelling. It forces you to anch

1. Early‑stage valuation celebrates what’s possible This is one of the rare places in finance where vision and artistry is a legitimate input. You’re valuing ingenuity, ambition, and the potential to reshape a market, not just the assets that exist today. 2. The absence of traditional metrics is a feature, not a flaw When revenue and profits aren’t yet the story, founders and investors can focus on insight, velocity, and vision. It relies on creativity and strategic clarity w

Over the past few posts, I’ve been unpacking fair value methodologies under IPEV and ASC 820 and how they apply to venture investments. Now feels like the right moment to zoom out and ask the bigger question: what is a company actually worth? More specifically, how should we think about enterprise value across different parts of the investment universe? In public markets and traditional private equity, the answer is almost comfortingly straightforward. These companies typical

1. A solid cap table strengthens every valuation approach 🔍 Whether using OPM, PWERM, or CVM, every method becomes more reliable when it’s built on accurate ownership data. 2. High‑quality inputs unlock high‑quality valuations 📊 Even the most advanced models are only as strong as the data behind them. Reliable valuations depend on clean, complete, and well‑structured information, starting with an accurate, up‑to‑date cap table. Without that, the integrity of the valuation f

I’ve spent a lot of time breaking down how VCs can approach fair value using OPM, PWERM, and CVM. Each methodology has its own logic, assumptions, and ideal use cases. But despite their differences, they all share a single foundational dependency that determines whether the output is meaningful or misleading: If your cap table isn’t accurate, your valuation isn’t accurate. This is the part of valuation work that often gets underestimated. It’s easy to focus on the modeling te

(This post is longer than the previous ones, but because OPM plays such a central role in fair value methodologies, I’m going to be especially thorough here.) As we continue our look at fair value methodologies for VCtype investments under IPEVand ASC 820, one method consistently rises to the top in conversations with practitioners. After more than 50 discussions with VCs, CFOs, controllers, and valuation professionals, the most frequently mentioned — and most frequently misu