Ask HN: What are some good examples/templates of business plans?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1440510

by potatofish • 16 years ago

1 3 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm specifically working on a SaaS company, and while I can draw from other business plans I've written, it's been many years since I've drafted one. Are there any examples or templates that provide a good outline for plans that are common to today's Web based or software based businesses? I'm not looking for silver bullets here, just a foundation to work from.

briandoll• 16 years ago

I think you'll find the culture here to follow the idea that business plans are bullshit and you should spend your time on your product/service and customer service instead.

Just as agile software development has killed the big-design-up-front method of building software, starting businesses has thankfully followed suit.

If you're really successful, you get to write a book about how you did it, and then you can write what looks like your business plan, with the hindsight advantage ;)

Alleyfield• 16 years ago

Your question seems a bit silly to me.

Just answer to these questions in your business plan: -When can the VC expect profit? -What makes your team/product so special?

If you're going to make a business plan based on a template... Well... How are you going to stand out from all of the other templates?

potatofish• 16 years ago

Are you saying business plans are decided upon based on how different they are in structure? What I thought would make it stand out was the substance, and I am looking for an outline on what to include, the order in which to cover it, etc.

Ask HN: What are some good examples/templates of business plans?

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