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Chris Stairs
Experienced Business Development Advisor and Entrepreneur in Vancouver
Chris Stairs is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Sales Primer, a company that specializes in helping businesses develop effective revenue strategies and sales processes.13 With extensive experience in strategic planning, business development, and operational start-up, Stairs brings valuable expertise to the role.2
Professional Background
Chris Stairs has a diverse background in business and finance:
- Co-founder of Sales Primer: He helped establish the company, which offers programs and tools to assist founders and sales leaders in creating reliable sales engines.13
- Finance Specialist: Stairs also serves as a finance specialist for Volition, a company providing advisory services to startups.34
- Advisor and Instructor: He is an advisor with ERIN (Edmonton) and a part-time instructor at the SFU Beedie School of Business.34
Expertise and Skills
Stairs' professional skill set includes:
- Strategic planning
- Research and feasibility studies
- Operational start-up
- Business development
- Business transformation
- Budgeting
- Process design2
Recent Partnerships
Recently, Chris Stairs has been involved in forming strategic partnerships to support startups and investors:
- Sales Primer partnered with VANTEC Angel Network to provide "Sales-Readiness" content for participating founders.15
- This collaboration aims to help startups improve their investment readiness and align their strategies with investor expectations.1
Chris Stairs is known for his ability to help businesses unlock key decisions that can immediately impact their sales and marketing procedures.6 His expertise in startup sales and innovation makes him a valuable resource for entrepreneurs in the BC market and beyond.15
Highlights
Many thanks to VANTEC Angel Network and BDC for hosting an exceptional Social Summer on the spectacular rooftop of the Stack Building this last week. Hats off to Aaron Stuart, Lindsey Volker, and Olivier Dubé CPA, CA for pulling it all together. Great opportunity to connect with the “who’s who” of the Vancouver start-up eco-system. And most especially, congratulations to Michael Volker and the founding members of VANTEC on celebrating the 25th anniversary of VANTEC’s active role as BC’s single largest angel network. With 382 companies receiving $50.9 million in just the last four years, VANTEC is a driving source of private equity investment for the British Columbian economy. Sales Primer is proud to serve as a VANTEC sponsor-partner and content provider in support of BC’s next generation of rising entrepreneurs. Make it a great summer, all. See you at the next pitch event on Sept, 11, 2024.
PRO FORMA – Modelling Growth Curves. It’s DEAD EASY! We’ve shared this post before. But after delivering “Traction & Trajectory” workshops for VANTEC Angel Network these last 8 months, it’s worth posting again. It’s one of the key eye-openers for almost every Founder who’s joined a session. ALWAYS, we hear the same comments about modelling growth curves:
“How do I forecast the future?” “Aren’t pro forma just science fiction?” “Why bother? It seems made up?” “Do Funders even believe the numbers?”
Completing a 5-Year Pro Forma is an absolutely essential exercise for all Founders when soliciting funds. (For deep-tech, biotech, medtech… the planning horizon's even longer.) But understand that you’re NOT trying to “forecast the future.” No one has a crystal ball. Instead, you’re MODELLING GROWTH MILESTONES! There is a fundamental difference. Funders are not expecting you to predict the future. What they ARE expecting you to illustrate is a trajectory that will identify the critical “growth milestones” representing your “do-or-die” gateways to survival, profitability, and a healthy investor return. You’re not making up numbers. You’re verifying the ESSENTIAL GOALS you NEED to succeed as a company, and deliver that target return. (Usually 10X’s in 5 years for Angels.) In fact, the following 3 data points are usually the basis of most “early-stage” 5-year curves:
-- Current Revenue -- Self-Sustaining Revenues -- 10X Valuation Increase from Date-of-Raise (as a Revenue Target)
It’s as easy as that! You just built your 5-year curve. Now work with your Sales Strategist to determine the most plausible way to drive that volume of business.
So make note! You’re not “FORECASTING” a made-up future. You’re “BACKCASTING” from targets you MUST achieve to meet your commitment to the investor(s) who just cut you a cheque. In short, a Pro Forma models sales trajectories and revenue targets that coincide directly with KNOWN growth milestones. Lay down those data points on a curve and explore different Sales Scenarios to gauge when and how you could reach those milestones, and with what degree of feasibility. If the curve seems manageable, evaluate the resources and cash required to get it done. Now you have your “Ask.” And the 5-Year Plan to generate a 10X’s return for the Seed investor.
Forget crazy unicorn returns. Let the market tell you if that might become a reality and adjust accordingly when it happens. For now? Plan for what you HAVE TO DO. For your own survival. And for the minimum expectations of your investors. Not for what you WISH might happen in your dreams. That’s just abstraction. Which is the enemy of advancement.
Excited to share more at our Vancouver Startup Week presentation “PITCHING YOUR TRACTION & TRAJECTORY” – 10am, Jun 4th.(https://lnkd.in/gCvEBNfS)
And remember… Without Sales, All Else Fails! www.salesprimer.ca
#Founders #Angels #Investors #Fundraising #Sales #Finance #ProForma #GrowthModels #ROI #Pitch #VSW2024
