Author: Wenhong You

“I don’t think your financial projections are aggressive enough,” said one prominent Chinese venture capitalist during a pitch by an American CPG company. “By year 5, your revenue should be at least $100 million, not just $35 million.” As a professional angel investor, my jaw was on the floor after hearing that comment. As a rule of thumb for US-based angel investors and venture capitalists, a startup company’s financial projections are treated as figures that are almost entirely aspirational and should always be taken with a grain of salt. Detailed financial projections show that a startup’s founders know where they…