Round Ready Academy

An 11-lesson programme on Series A and Series B round preparation. How institutional investors actually underwrite a round, the evidence bundle that gets it priced at the top of the range, and a 90-day plan to get there.

📚 11 lessons ⏱ 11–13 hours 🎯 Advanced

The Round Readiness Radar

What the Round Readiness Diagnostic produces — a live read of your business across The Opagio 12, with sector benchmarks and a state classification. Eight minutes. Free.

BrandCustomerNetworkTechnologyDataHumanOrgEcosystemIPRegulatorySwitchingCulture

Demo profile

Illustrative scores from a £2.4M ARR B2B SaaS at the Series A preparation stage. Strong on customer capital and IP; thin on network effects and organisational capital.

  • Above sector median: Customer Capital, Content & IP, Brand
  • Below sector median: Network Effects, Data & Intelligence, Org Capital
  • Classification: Series A Ready — open the Series A Playbook

What you will learn

Understand how institutional investors actually underwrite a Series A or Series B round — and why evidence beats enthusiasm at the IC

Use The Opagio 12 as the structured language for the evidence bundle that sits behind every priced round

Surface the most common asset-base blind spots at £1M+ ARR before first partner meetings

Build a Series A asset register organised against a 47-question institutional diligence corpus

Design the four-layer metrics tree Series A and Series B investors compute regardless of what you present

Navigate the bridge-versus-extension-versus-debt-versus-equity decision tree without signalling distress

Mount a comps-led valuation defence when a term sheet comes in materially below the range

Present the Series B efficiency story that clears the post-2021 Rule of 40, NRR, and payback bar

Identify qualifying IP-backed lending collateral and work with UK bank programmes (NatWest, HSBC, RBS)

Execute a disciplined 90-day round-ready plan with weekly deliverables across evidence, gap-closing, and narrative

Course lessons

1 Lesson 1 of 11

Why Your Valuation Is a Narrative, Not a Number

Series A and B valuations are built on evidence and narrative, not pitch decks alone. How institutional investors actually underwrite a round — and why The Opagio 12 is the structured language for the evidence that drives price.

Open lesson
2 Lesson 2 of 11

The 12 Things Buyers Actually Price

A walkthrough of The Opagio 12 — the twelve intangible value drivers Series A and Series B investors actually price. How each maps to what institutional buyers look for, with sector examples.

Open lesson
5 Lesson 5 of 11

Building the Series A Asset Register

A 47-question institutional diligence corpus mapped to The Opagio 12. How to build a Series A asset register that survives the first partner screen and the investment committee.

Open lesson
6 Lesson 6 of 11

Designing the Metrics Tree Investors Expect

Top-of-funnel to retention to contribution margin — how to design the metrics tree institutional investors actually use to underwrite a Series A. Cohort retention, LTV/CAC by segment, and what defensibility means in evidence terms.

Open lesson
8 Lesson 8 of 11

When the Offer Comes in 40% Below Comps

A response playbook for lowball term sheets — comps library, Opagio 12 differential report, founder-led renegotiation scripts. How to turn a lowball offer into a defensible counter, without burning the relationship.

Open lesson
9 Lesson 9 of 11

The Efficiency Story That Unlocks Series B

Why growth-at-all-costs is dead for Series B. Rule of 40, NRR, payback periods, unit economics — the language of the 2025/26 B-round market. How to build and present the efficiency story that clears the Series B bar.

Open lesson

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Your progress

Round Ready IQ

Score 0/55 across the 11 lessons.

0% complete

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Ready to apply The Opagio 12 to your round?

Run the diagnostic to surface where the evidence is strong and where it is thin. Open the Valuator to translate the profile into a defensible range.