10 Things you need in a Business Plan

What is necessary in a Business Plan? I like this list from Sequoia Best:

Present a lot of information in as few words as possible. The following business plan format, within 15-20 slides, is all that's needed:

Company Purpose
* Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence.

Problem
* Describe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer).
* Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

Solution
* Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better.
* Show where your product physically sits.
* Provide use cases.

Why Now
* Set-up the historical evolution of your category.
* Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

Market Size
* Identify/profile the customer you cater to.
* Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up) and SOM.

Competition
* List competitors
* List competitive advantages

Product
* Product line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property).
* Development roadmap.

Business Model
* Revenue model
* Pricing
* Average account size and/or lifetime value
* Sales & distribution model
* Customer/pipeline list

Team
* Founders & Management
* Board of Directors/Board of Advisors

Financials
* P&L
* Balance sheet
* Cash flow
* Cap table
* The deal