Applying Investment Decision Rules for Startups (Coursera)

In the previous course, you learned financial statement analysis and how to make estimate of future financial status. In this course, you are going to learn capital budgeting. That is, how to make an investment decision. You would like to select the best project among various projects you can take. Then, you need to know the criteria. In this course, you are going to learn investment decision criteria such as NPV and IRR, which are most popular decision rules.

Using financial analysis and discounted cash flow method, you can make pro forma financial statement and estimate project cash flows. Then, you apply investment criteria to determine whether to invest or not. After learning how to apply NPV and IRR method to investment decision, you are going to learn how to evaluate NPV estimate and scenario, what-if analyses and break-even analysis. In addition to NPV and IRR, you are going to learn Payback period method and Profitability method to determine whether to invest or not when there is a political risk or capital rationing.

Who is this class for: The target audience of this Specialization includes venture capitals, angel investors, and entrepreneurs, Particularly, entrepreneurs are wondering the value of their startups and how much ownership they need to give up to raise additional capital. It is same for angel investors. They are wondering how much ownership they need to ask in return for their investment. Venture capitals may know the value of startups better than entrepreneurs or angel investors but they need to communicate with startups how they value startups. This Specialization helps angel investors, entrepreneurs, and venture capitals understand and communicate the value of startups.

Course 4 of 5 in the Valuation and Financial Analysis For Startups Specialization.