The document contrasts traditional 5-year planning with iterative management. It shows historical and projected revenue, expense, and EBITDA percentages from 2012 to 2020, with revenue expected to steadily increase each year under iterative management. The rest of the document discusses prioritizing key business assumptions, determining which assumptions need proving, and using experimentation to prove or disprove the most important assumptions with minimal time and effort.

1. PLANNING
Then Now
Five Year Iterative
Plan
45,000,000%
Management
40,000,000%
35,000,000%
30,000,000%
25,000,000%
Revenue%
20,000,000% Expense%
EBITDA%
15,000,000%
10,000,000%
5,000,000%
0%
2012% 2013% 2014% 2015% 2016% 2017% 2018% 2019% 2020%
!5,000,000%
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

2. PLANNING
45,000,000%
40,000,000%
35,000,000%
30,000,000%
25,000,000%
Revenue%
20,000,000% Expense%
EBITDA%
15,000,000%
10,000,000%
5,000,000%
0%
2012% 2013% 2014% 2015% 2016% 2017% 2018% 2019% 2020%
!5,000,000%
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

3. PLANNING
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
What are the key assumptions
required to make this business work?
Which are most important?
How do I definitely prove or disprove
the most important assumptions with
a minimum of time and effort?
Am I focused on proving out my
business model or responding to
‘urgencies’?
Was it true or untrue?
‘Pivot or persevere?’
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

4. PLANNING
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
[A key assumption about [Whether it needs [Experiment to
1 proving
the business] prove or disprove]
* Post the proposition in ads
Parents want to better online
1 organize the distribution Yes
of allowances * Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
Parents have smart
2 No n/a
phones
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

5. PLANNING
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

6. PLANNING
$
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Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing