Most Forecasts Fail the Moment Reality Changes

About six years ago, I made the decision to focus my fractional CFO practice on development-stage medtech and biotech companies. I quickly fell in love with the innovation, passion, and purpose that founders and management teams bring to this industry. Every day, I have the privilege of working alongside companies developing technologies that have the potential to change and even save lives. 

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What I didn't love was watching great companies struggle to answer some of the most fundamental questions about their business. 

• What are we trying to accomplish? 

• What will it cost? 

• How much capital do we need? 

• When will we need it? 

• What happens if our timeline changes? 

 

Time after time, I found myself rebuilding complex financial models in Excel as milestones shifted, clinical timelines changed, hiring plans evolved, and financing strategies were refined. One change to a development plan could ripple through an entire forecast, impacting costs, cash runway, financing requirements, and investor communications. 

The science was difficult enough. Financial planning shouldn't be. 

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I realized I wasn't solving unique problems for each company—I was solving the same problem over and over again. 

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That's when Forcestra was born. 

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Forcestra wasn't built by software developers searching for a market opportunity. It was built by a CFO who lives this problem every day. 

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Over the years, I developed a milestone-driven forecasting methodology that connects a company's operational plan to its financial future.

At its core is a simple philosophy: 

• Milestones drive activities. 

• Activities drive costs. 

• Costs drive cash. 

• Cash determines runway and financing requirements. 

 

Development-stage life science companies don't operate on calendar years—they operate on milestones. Yet most financial models are built as static spreadsheets that quickly become outdated as development plans evolve. 

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Forcestra was designed to change that. 

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It transforms a company's development plan into an integrated financial operating system that dynamically models milestones, timelines, costs, hiring plans, financing requirements, and cash runway—all in real time. The result is a living forecast that evolves as the business evolves. 

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More importantly, Forcestra provides founders, management teams, boards, and investors with a common language for understanding the financial implications of operational decisions before they happen. 

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My hope is that Forcestra allows management teams to spend less time wrestling with spreadsheets and more time doing what they do best—developing innovative technologies and bringing them to the patients who need them. 

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Forcestra is the culmination of years of experience, countless Excel models, and one simple belief: development-stage life science companies deserve better financial planning tools. 

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This is only the beginning, and I couldn't be more excited to share Forcestra with the life science community. 

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Sandi Klemann 
Founder & CEO, Fractional Finance Solutions 
Creator of Forcestra™