#96 How to Understand the Unit Economics of a CPG Company with Graphite Financial
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2023
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you are in the Startup CPG Slack #finance channel, you’ll regularly see tons of questions about projections, cash flow, and unit economics, so I’m so excited today that we are joined by Paul Bianco, CEO and Founder of Graphite Financial. Born out of a VC fund, Graphite provides startup accounting, finance & tax services for high growth brands. For the past few months, Graphite has even been offering 1:1s with our community members for free to get specific advice for their business (keep an eye out in Slack for more opportunities). Today we’ll focus on the topic of unit economics for CPG companies.
Listen in as Paul shares about:
- Tips for calculating gross margin correctly
- Issues with commonly used terms like LTV (Life Time Value) and ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and what metrics he recommends instead
- Using cohort analysis in LTV calculations
- How much data is enough data to create a meaningful analysis
- Best practices and tools for projections
- Tips on when and how to find the right finance service for your company
- And more!
This episode was sponsored by Graphite Financial. Go to graphitefinancial.com/cpg
This episode was sponsored by Shopify. Go to shopify.com/startupcpg
This episode was sponsored by Promomash + Crisp. Go to promomash.com/startupcpg
This episode was sponsored by Maven Agency. Go to strategymavenagency.com
Episode Links:
- Graphite Financial website
- Download a free financial model template, chart of accounts template, and more here
- Paul’s LinkedIn
- Brands mentioned: Plated, Brightland, Funky Mello
Shopify Links:
- Start a free trial and enjoy 2 months of Shopify for $1/month
Promomash/Crisp Links:
- Try Promomash + Crisp free for 30 days here
- Webinar recording: Promomash + Crisp Present: The Next Big Thing in WFM Demo Analytics
- Webinar recording: Distributor Data 101: 5 Things Brands Should Be Tracking and Why
Strategy Maven Agency Links:
Show Links:
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (12K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Jessi's Linkedin or website
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Jessi at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | That's the sound of another sale on your online Shopify store. But did you know that Shopify powers |
| 0:06.0 | in-person selling too? From events to farmers markets to shows, Shopify is the sound of selling |
| 0:12.2 | everywhere. I've definitely been selling at an event and struggled between reconciling payment |
| 0:17.2 | processors, inventory before and after the event, and easy reporting. |
| 0:25.9 | With Shopify, you get a powerhouse selling partner that effortlessly unites your in-person and online sales into one source of truth. |
| 0:28.7 | From accepting payments to managing inventory, Shopify has everything you need to sell in person. |
| 0:34.1 | Prep for your next event with hardware that fits your business. |
| 0:37.0 | Take payments by |
| 0:37.8 | smartphone, transform your tablet into a point of sale, or use Shopify's point of sale, |
| 0:42.8 | go mobile device for a battle tested solution. Plus, Shopify's award-winning 24-7 help is there to |
| 0:48.8 | support your success every step of the way. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash startup CPG, all lowercase. |
| 0:59.3 | Go to Shopify.com slash startup CPG to take your retail business to the next level today. |
| 1:06.8 | Shopify.com slash startup CPG. |
| 1:13.5 | Trying to do the accounting yourself is becoming a lot of work and super inaccurate |
| 1:17.8 | and your guts telling you you don't really know enough about the business or have a hazier view of your business than you like. |
| 1:23.5 | That's usually like a pretty good sign that it's time to work with someone that just does this. |
| 1:29.0 | Welcome to the Startup CPG podcast. I'm your host, Jesse Freytag. If you're in the Startup CPG Slack |
| 1:35.5 | Finance channel, you'll regularly see tons of questions about projections, cash flow, and unit |
| 1:41.2 | economics. So I'm excited today that we're joined by Paul Bianco, CEO and |
| 1:46.0 | founder of Graphite Financial. Born out of a venture capital fund, Graphite provides |
| 1:51.2 | startup accounting, finance, and tax services for high growth brands. For the past few months, |
| 1:56.8 | graphite has even been offering one-on-ones with a limited number of our community members |
... |
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