METHODOLOGY

A valuation is only as credible as the assumptions behind it.

Most valuation numbers exist without a visible foundation. They’re borrowed from comparables, suggested by investors or produced by an algorithm that nobody can explain under pressure. What Mulyan builds is different: every number comes from a documented set of assumptions about your specific business- assumptions that can be read, questioned and defended.

Because a valuation isn’t credible when the number looks right. It’s credible when the reasoning behind it survives scrutiny.

The Framework

Building value from the business itself not from what someone else paid

There are two fundamentally different ways to value a business.

The first is pricing: looking at comparable companies, applying a revenue or EBITDA multiple and arriving at a number based on what similar businesses have sold or raised capital at. This is how most investment conversations begin. It is quick, practical, and useful but it answers a different question.

The second is intrinsic valuation: building a number from the business itself. Future revenues, operating margins, reinvestment needs and the risk surrounding those future cash flows are translated into a valuation through explicit assumptions. Every input is documented. Every assumption can be questioned. Every conclusion can be defended.

Mulyan is built entirely on this second approach.

The methodology follows the valuation framework developed and taught by Prof. Aswath Damodaran at NYU Stern School of Business where the story of a business and the numbers in the model must reinforce one another. A compelling narrative without financial support is optimism. Numbers without a coherent story are spreadsheets without context. A credible valuation requires both.

Pricing tells you what someone may be willing to pay today.

Intrinsic value tells you what the business is worth based on its own economics.

Sometimes those numbers are similar.

Sometimes they are dramatically different.

That difference is not a problem to solve, it is information to understand. For founders, that difference often becomes the starting point of better negotiation, better decision-making and a clearer understanding of what their business is truly worth.

The Process

A disciplined process. Every valuation follows the same sequence; only the assumptions change.

Every valuation at Mulyan follows the same framework. While every business is different, the discipline behind the work remains consistent. The assumptions change. The process does not.

From understanding the business to estimating its intrinsic value, each stage builds on the one before it. Every assumption is documented, every input is traceable and every conclusion can be explained.

The framework below outlines how every valuation is built.

Building the Foundation

Every credible valuation begins with understanding the business before projecting the numbers.

01 - Understanding the Business

Every engagement begins with understanding the business before a model is ever opened.

The first conversation is about the story: what the business does, how it generates revenue, where margins are expected to evolve and what the next three to five years realistically look like. A valuation built without first understanding the business produces a number that is difficult to defend because the assumptions were never grounded in reality.

This is also where the assumptions are agreed in writing. Revenue drivers, growth expectations, margin trajectory, reinvestment plans, and key operating assumptions are discussed before modelling begins. That creates clarity for both sides: the founder knows exactly what is being valued and every conclusion in the final model can be traced back to assumptions that were agreed before the work started.

Building the Valuation

Revenue, margins, and risk are modelled together because value is created by how they interact—not in isolation.

02 - Building Revenue from the Ground Up

Mulyan does not project revenue by starting with the size of a market and assuming a percentage share.

Statements such as “the market is ₹2 lakh crore and we will capture 1%” are ambitions not operating forecasts.

Instead, revenue is built from the operational unit that actually drives the business.

For a retail company, that may be stores and revenue per store.

For SaaS, contracts, pricing, expansion revenue, and churn.

For marketplaces, gross order value and take rate.

The driver changes with the business model.

The principle does not.

Revenue should emerge from operational reality not market-share assumptions.

03 - Modelling Margin Evolution

Margins begin with the business as it exists today not with an idealised version of what it could become.

The starting point is actual financial performance. From there, margins evolve towards levels that comparable mature businesses have demonstrated are realistically achievable.

Competitive advantages such as technology, brand, distribution or operating leverage are not added as separate premiums.

They appear naturally through the improvements in profitability those advantages make possible.

If the competitive advantage is real, it should already be visible in the economics of the business.

04 - Reflecting Risk Through the Cost of Capital

Risk is not static and the valuation should not treat it as if it were.

Early-stage businesses face greater uncertainty: execution risk, customer concentration, illiquidity and limited operating history all justify a higher cost of capital.

As the business matures, revenue becomes more predictable, governance improves, institutional capital may enter and the business gradually de-risks.

The cost of capital should reflect that changing reality.

A declining discount rate is therefore not an optimistic assumption it is the logical consequence of a business becoming less risky over time.

The Outcome

A valuation is only useful when it improves decisions not when it simply produces a number.

The number itself is only the outcome. The real value is understanding what drives it, how sensitive it is to different assumptions and how it can be used in conversations that shape the future of the business. An intrinsic valuation gives founders a rational anchor before conversations with investors begin. It directly affects dilution through every future round. It becomes a decision-making tool for questions about growth, pricing, reinvestment and strategy. And when discussing anything from fundraising to acquisitions to board decisions, a valuation built on explicit assumptions creates a common framework for the conversation.

What This Is Not

The limits of this work- stated plainly.

This is not a compliance valuation. It is not designed to satisfy a regulatory requirement, support a legal document or meet the standards of IBBI, SEBI or any statutory framework. For those purposes, a registered valuer is required.

This is not a fundraising guarantee. A valuation built on rigorous assumptions can still be rejected by an investor whose pricing logic is entirely different.

What it gives you is the ability to understand that gap and to make an informed decision about whether to accept it.

This is not a prediction. A DCF is a structured argument: if these assumptions about growth, margins and risk hold, here is what the business is worth today. Whether those assumptions hold depends on execution. The model is only as good as the honesty of the inputs.

Every founder deserves to know what their business is worth before someone else tells them what it is worth.

If you want to understand what your business is actually worth, built from its own story, its own numbers, and its own trajectory- that is what this work is for.

Every founder deserves to know what their business is worth before someone else tells them what it is worth.

Discuss Your Valuation

Independent analytical opinion only. This work is intended to support strategic decision-making and is not prepared for regulatory, statutory, or compliance purposes. It does not constitute investment advice, legal advice, or a substitute for a valuation by a registered valuer where required by law.