Scenario Modeling for Venture Capital Firms

CompanyAumni, a JP Morgan Company

My RoleResearch, Strategy, Prototyping, Testing, Product Design

Team1 Product Designer (me), 1 PM, 5 Engineers, 1 EM, 2 Subject Matter Experts

Challenge

Scenario modeling is a time-consuming, complex exercise usually performed in Excel. Round modeling is used to determine how each round of financing might affect investor's ownership and what they need to invest to maintain a specific ownership percent. The outcome of this project was Aumni's first Scenario Modeling tool.

Understanding the pain points of modeling financing rounds

Together with a Product Manager we conducted user interviews with our existing customers to understand how we can help with modeling financing rounds. Scenario modeling is one of the most popular feature requests. Smaller VC firms are usually extremely busy and do not have time to build custom models — they'd prefer one tool for everything.

Competitive Analysis

To understand our main competitors better, I mapped out their scenarios functionality and features. One of the biggest benefits of using Aumni is getting access to organized, aggregated legal and economic data — there is no need for manual data entry.

Initial test — leveraging existing functionality to gauge interest

To further validate interest in round modeling, I designed a simple initial version of the tool. We created a new "Scenarios" navigation item and tracked visits. After receiving high volume and requests to expand, the need was confirmed.

Strategy

Focus on Round Modeling and Exit Waterfall Analysis

I spent time with Subject Matter Experts and a Product Manager to review insights, write down specific use cases, and map out future user flows. We started with round modeling and planned to add more complex functionality over time.

Key Features

Leverage Aumni's data to quickly start with existing capitalization

The fastest way to build a round modeling scenario in Aumni is to start with an existing portfolio company. Scenarios can be accessed from a portfolio company page or Scenarios home. For new investments, users can "Start from scratch".

New Scenario - Existing Company Initial State

Understand how much to invest to maintain a specific ownership percentage

Venture Capital firms might have a right to invest a specific amount to maintain their ownership percentage (Pro Rata rights). I designed a section with Pro Rata rights information to help users determine how much they need to invest, with a "Fill with Pro Rata" quick action.

Export Exit Waterfall Analysis

Users can pick an existing portfolio company and export an Excel exit waterfall analysis directly from Aumni, pre-filled with relevant formulas and data, giving users the flexibility to make any changes.

Outcomes

This project addressed the most frequently requested feature at Aumni — 7% of all feature requests mentioned Scenario Modeling. 80% of users leveraged existing company data to start their scenario, validating the core value proposition.