VALU: Budget & Investment
Operational guide for Division leadership
Investment Summary
$150K is the smallest of our GTM investments because VALU is a high-touch, low-volume model. Revenue per customer is high ($42K/year), so we only need 15 firms to breakeven. Investment covers founder time (40%), contract development, and FLA pilot completion.
Budget Allocation: Where Each Dollar Goes
| Category | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Total | % | What It Buys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder Salary (40%) | $36,000 | $36,000 | $72,000 | 48% | Sales, implementation, customer success |
| Product Development | $25,000 | $20,000 | $45,000 | 30% | Platform build, templates, mobile app |
| FLA Pilot Completion | $8,000 | $0 | $8,000 | 5% | Complete pilot, build case study |
| Marketing & Content | $3,000 | $12,000 | $15,000 | 10% | Case studies, PINZ presence, referral program |
| Tools & Contingency | $3,000 | $7,000 | $10,000 | 7% | Hosting, CRM, unexpected costs |
| TOTAL | $75,000 | $75,000 | $150,000 | 100% |
VALU is fundamentally different from SaaS. Each customer requires 6-8 weeks of founder-led implementation. This limits scale but creates deep relationships and high switching costs. We can only onboard ~3 new firms per quarter.
Resource Plan: Who Does What, When
| Role | Person | Start | Allocation | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implementation Lead | Founder | Day 1 | 25% | Customer builds, onboarding, training |
| Sales Lead | Founder | Day 1 | 15% | Discovery, demos, closing |
| Contract Developer | TBD | Ongoing | Variable | Platform features, customer customisation |
Scale Constraint
With founder-led implementation, we can only handle ~3 new builds per quarter. This is intentional — quality over quantity. If demand exceeds capacity, we waitlist rather than dilute quality.
KPI Dashboard: How We Know If It's Working
Leading Indicators (Monthly)
Lower volume means monthly tracking is sufficient for leading indicators.
| Metric | Target | Warning | Critical | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Calls/Month | ≥4 | 2-4 | <2 | Pipeline health |
| Discovery-to-LOI Rate | ≥50% | 30-50% | <30% | Message-market fit |
| LOI-to-Contract Rate | ≥75% | 50-75% | <50% | Pricing/value alignment |
| Implementation NPS | ≥50 | 30-50 | <30 | Delivery quality |
Lagging Indicators (Quarterly)
| Metric | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firms Live | 1 (FLA) | 4 | 8 | 15 |
| ROI Guarantee Triggered | 0 | 0 | <1 | <2 |
| Referrals Received | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5+ |
| ARR | $42K | $168K | $336K | $630K |
Milestone-Based Funding Release
| Tranche | Amount | Release Trigger | Expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tranche 1 | $50,000 | Board approval (Day 1) | M1 |
| Tranche 2 | $50,000 | FLA live + referenceable + 1 additional LOI | M3-4 |
| Tranche 3 | $50,000 | 5 firms live + ROI guarantee not triggered | M7-8 |
Kill Criteria: When We Stop
Hard Stops (Terminate)
- ✕ M4: FLA not live or refuses to be reference
- ✕ M6: Zero additional contracts after FLA
- ✕ Any time: ROI guarantee triggered on >30% of customers
- ✕ M9: <5 firms live AND no path to 15
Pause & Diagnose
- ⚠ Any time: Discovery-to-LOI <25% after 10 conversations
- ⚠ Any time: Implementation NPS <30
- ⚠ Any time: Zero referrals after 5 live customers
Board Reporting Cadence
Bi-Weekly (Division Lead)
- • Pipeline status
- • Build progress
- • Customer feedback
- • Blockers
Monthly (Exec Team)
- • Firms live
- • ARR
- • ROI guarantee status
- • Referral pipeline
Quarterly (Board)
- • Customer count
- • Case study quality
- • AU expansion readiness
- • Capacity planning