Closing in on Something Real (Hawken Project Blog #7)

Hey there! This is my last blog post for my senior project, and I finally feel like I have done something really really cool. The two main things that I was focused on for this project were the revenue model/GTM strategy and cost+operating model for ESTIM8. I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle both of these things, but I ended up creating two major final documents that I can use to express both of these things to investors. I created a 16 page google document called ESTIM8 Business Plan and a very intricate google spread sheet called ESTIM8 Financial Projection Model. I have worked on both of these things throughout the project and I started with almost nothing. Jalen and I had a lot of stuff from our Entrepreneurship course, but it didn't feel real. We hadn't validated how we were going to make it a real business. Our idea was good but now I feel like our business makes sense too. I genuinely feel like we could go get an investor and have this thing making some serious money within 3 years. My spreadsheet is proof of this. My business plan is essentially a 110% summary of ESTIM8. It is every single thing an investor would need to know about it, from who we are to how it works to if we are really going to make money. I have challenged every assumption about our business and made sure to really find concrete answers to prove that ESTIM8 would be successful. I am super proud of what I have created and I think I genuinely will continue to pursue this startup as a reality. We have treated it like a reality this whole time and now I finally have the confidence and information to do it. Thanks for reading! - Quinn Petersen

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