Learn to build the financial case investors believe.
Achiiv teaches Financial Storytelling™ classes and workshops, and provides 1:1 advisory that evaluates your venture’s economic viability and funding attractiveness, so you walk into every investor meeting with a case that holds up.
Enrolling now. Start today and learn at your own pace.
Delivered for founders and programs at
- University of Chicago · Polsky Center
- BrightEdge · American Cancer Society
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- University of Houston Technology Bridge
- Cayman Islands Government
Getting funders interested isn’t about what’s on the deck. It’s what’s behind it.
Raising money is a thankless task:
- Endless outreach met with deafening silence
- Disengaged attention to an impassioned pitch
- Polite but superficial questions, but no cigar
Few first-time founders realize the biggest danger in their pitch: the lack of a credible financial case.
Without one, a pitch is vaporware to a serious investor. Our classes and advisory exist to fix that before you ever step into the room.
Financial Storytelling™ classes
A focused, no-frills series of classes that teaches you to prepare a flawless raise. In each class you learn to:
Showcase a provable model
Build a business model that stands up to scrutiny and can be demonstrated, not just asserted.
Bring rock-solid receipts
Assemble the evidence that earns investor trust.
Get battle-tested
Pressure test your case so you’re ready for the hardest questions.
What’s in the classes
A tested foundation
Every class is built on the SPARC™ Sequence, covering each critical element investors look for.
Self-paced lessons
- Sharp, on-point video guides
- Examples, do’s and don’ts
- Tools and worksheets
- Yardsticks to pressure test your work
Live office hours
Work through your thorniest problems with experts in regular office hours.
Champion Challenger sessions
Present and defend every aspect of your financial case, and find the flaws before investors do.
Story Hotline
Send your questions and get exclusive access to expert answers, including the entire answer database.
AMA sessions
Ask investors, subject matter experts and experienced founders directly.
Plus new snack-sized videos and tips added regularly, so the library keeps growing.
Choose your plan
Introductory pricing on class enrollment.
All the classes, month-to-month.
Flexible: pay only for the time you need.
Enroll monthlySupport for the long haul. Two months free.
The classes grow with you all year.
Enroll annuallyComplimentary with enrollment: Achiiv Founder Finance Institute
- A growing collection of snackable, concise insights on every aspect of your financial case
- A community of founders and peers you can browse by industry, geography or topic
- Discussions, round tables and more
Financial Storytelling™ advisory, one-on-one
Dedicated, focused sessions that evaluate the economic viability and funding attractiveness of your new business, and guide you in building the financial business case behind your raise. Choose the package that fits your stage.
One 30-minute 1:1 session
- Any topic of your choice
- Open consultation
- Choose from: market opportunity review, business model, pitch deck
One 60-minute 1:1 session
- Document pre-review
- Top 3 risks identified
- Recommended action plan
- Market opportunity, business model, channel strategy and profitability review
Six weekly 30-minute 1:1 calls
- Unlimited email
- Weekly action plan
- Progress review
- Market opportunity, business model, financial model and investor interview prep
Weekly 60-minute 1:1 call
- Monthly milestones
- Unlimited email
- Weekly action plan
- Progress review
- Market opportunity, business model, financial model and investor interview prep
Limited availability on all packages. Secure your spot early. Questions? chakras@achiiv.co
Bring Financial Storytelling™ workshops to your cohort.
We deliver Financial Storytelling™ workshops, lectures and keynotes for accelerators, incubators, universities and government entrepreneurship programs, from single sessions to multi-week series.
Want to level up your startup program?
Tell us about your cohort and we’ll put together a custom package.
Get in touchWhat founders and program leaders say about working with us.
Shubha is a force of nature! Nothing could have quite prepared me for the 6-week workshop that she offered to the cleantech founders in our inaugural cohort!
She challenged our founders to think critically about each and every slide, how to look at everything from top-down and bottom-up, how to evaluate the market opportunity realistically, how to present their business strategy and value proposition sensibly, and most importantly how to look at all these concepts through a financial lens as they present them.
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Chicago
…one of the most impactful workshops we’ve delivered to our life sciences founders.
She brought a rare combination of deep financial expertise and clarity, delivering content that was not only actionable but directly tailored to the complex realities cancer-focused ventures face.
We can’t wait to have her back.
BrightEdge | Venture Arm of The American Cancer Society
Shubha delivered an insightful Financial Storytelling lecture for our Startup Accelerator at Illinois Tech.
Her structured framework helped our teams align their startup narratives with solid, backable proof—boosting their credibility with both customers and investors. Her approach resonated deeply, sparking meaningful discussions that continued well beyond the session.
Illinois Institute of Technology
Thank you so much for the incredible session at BrightEdge—it was truly the best I’ve ever attended across any entrepreneurship program, and I’ve done quite a few!
Co-Founder, ReConstruct Bio | BrightEdge Accelerator
Shubha is a phenomenal coach and speaker.
I appreciate her delivery of complex financial models in very simplified concepts that can be learned and understood by a STEM founder with no financial background and training.
University of Houston Technology Bridge
I was particularly impressed by how her expertise and clear explanations made complex financial concepts accessible to everyone in the room.
The audience appreciated her presentation for its relevance, insightful examples, and the simplicity and honesty of her approach.
Cayman Islands Government · Keynote, “Raising Capital” forum
Thank you so much for all the sessions. It is a lot to digest in one go, but I am mining all the information for every morsel I can get out of it.
Single most important week of Duality, quintessential.
Duality Quantum Accelerator | Polsky Center, University of Chicago
I’d easily trade a majority of my time in any accelerator program to focus on the contents you provided. Every minute I get to learn from you is a big gain.
Resurgence Cleantech Accelerator | Polsky Center, University of Chicago
Having attended accelerators like Techstars, Blackstone Launchpad, Venturewell, and many others, I can confidently say that my understanding of financial modeling progressed more with Shubha than in any other program.
Her disciplined, step-by-step approach transformed abstract and complex concepts into tangible and concrete insights.
Knight-Hennessy Scholar and MD Candidate, Stanford University
She provides specific examples of what investors are looking for in pitching a startup and explains it in easy to understand terms.
I was able to develop key financial metrics for my pitch which was extremely beneficial since we are pre-revenue. I really appreciate Shubha’s direct and disciplined approach and her ability to break down generalized financial metrics into specific examples for your particular situation.
Your questions answered
Quick answers about our Financial Storytelling™ classes.
My startup is pre-revenue. Will the classes help without existing financial data?
Yes. It’s a common misconception that the financial case is just the “numbers slide” you can worry about later. It is at the heart of any new venture, and building it early improves your odds of creating a more viable, healthy company. You don’t need financial data yet: the classes help you work out the big numbers that matter.
What is the time commitment, and how flexible is the pay-as-you-go model?
The classes are designed for busy founders. We slimmed the material down to the essentials and arranged it in a logical sequence you can work through when you have time. Pay monthly for only the time you need, or commit to a full year and get two months free.
How do the classes differ from an accelerator or a financial modeling course?
Accelerators give founders comprehensive support across every part of building a startup. Our classes provide the framework that makes all of those pieces make economic and financial sense. Financial modeling courses translate your assumptions into a spreadsheet; our classes help you arrive at solid, credible assumptions in the first place.
I’m a non-financial founder. Will the classes simplify complex financial concepts?
Yes. We built them for founders like you. Finance is necessary, but it shouldn’t become an all-consuming source of pain. Every lesson is relevant, actionable and tightly focused on what you need to make progress, with your bandwidth and clarity in mind.
Can I tailor what I learn to my industry?
Yes. Every business, whatever the industry, rests on a few foundational pillars. In the classes you learn what those pillars are and how to apply them to your company and sector, so you can make sense of conflicting advice from different investors.
How will a strong financial case help me secure “smart money” and build investor relationships?
Good investors want to know two things: whether you’ll be a good steward of their money, and whether you have a credible plan to build value in the company. A well-built financial case is one of the clearest positive signals you can send on both.
Shubha K. Chakravarthy
I’ve spent my entire career in financial services, seeing how finance shapes every aspect of life. Leadership positions in banking in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis showed me how much power a clear, credible financial narrative wields, from the individual and the organization all the way to society and government.
When I left corporate life, I was dismayed by how little credible, structured financial guidance existed for entrepreneurs. Finance isn’t optional for founders. It’s oxygen and food combined.
I founded Achiiv to help visionary founders, especially in STEM, build startups on a rock-solid financial foundation.
Enroll in Financial Storytelling™ classes
Start today and learn at your own pace. Choose monthly or annual to enroll immediately.
Prefer 1:1 support instead? See advisory options.