SFS_06Startup Foundation System™ 2–3 weeks; permanent quarterly cadence

Risk Mitigation Setup & Analysis

Identify and price the risks that actually kill startups — market, financial, strategic, execution — and install mitigations.

See full Startup Foundation System™

Why it matters

Most pre-seed teams confuse optimism with risk-management. We install COSO ERM-lite: a strategic risk register across market, financial, strategic and execution dimensions, with a heatmap, scenario plan and pre-mortem — the discipline that survives a downturn.

Scope covered

Market risk: competitive intensity, entry barriers, volatility, customer dependency

Financial risk: funding dependency, cash-flow, debt, capital efficiency

Strategic risk: positioning, differentiation, pivot exposure

Execution risk: dependency on individuals, decision bottlenecks

Consolidated risk register + 5×5 heatmap

Scenario planning (base, bull, bear) + pre-mortem

Mitigation playbook with owners and triggers

How we run it

Our methodology

A senior-led delivery sequence — not a template dump. Each phase is operated with your team, not handed over as a deck.

1
Risk inventory workshop
Week 1
Run founder + leadership workshop to inventory market, product, team, regulatory, financial and execution risks.
2
5×5 risk heatmap
Week 1–2
Score each risk on probability × impact; heatmap top-quartile risks with named owners and triggers.
3
Mitigation play design
Week 2
Design specific mitigation plays (kill, hedge, insure, monitor) per top risk with budget and timeline.
4
Risk register & quarterly cadence
Week 2–3
Stand up the risk register and the quarterly risk review with the board / advisory.