Module 1 · Week 1 — Quick Reference Guide

Signature lineThe project your team delivers is largely determined before the project manager ever starts managing it.

What am I supposed to know?

The five things that don't change

1A project's real start is a pursuit decision (Lead), not kickoff — four decisions happen before kickoff: pursue, price posture, staffing, opportunity data.
2Gross revenue ≠ what the firm plans against. Strip out subs and reimbursables first to get net service revenue (NSR).
3A billing rate is wage + overhead (= break-even), plus profit (= target). Target ÷ wage = multiplier.
4Weighted revenue = expected fee × win probability. Backlog = the sum of weighted revenue across active pursuits — it's what the firm staffs and hires against.
5You're a 100% employee-owner. Margin earned on well-run work is your equity, via the ESOP — not abstract firm profit.

What am I supposed to do?

→This week: watch the content overview, complete every companion screen, answer the pivot prompt, submit the challenge question before Week 2.
→On every future pursuit you touch: ask where it sits on the Lead → Go/No-Go → Opportunity → Proposal → Project map before you do anything else — that tells you whether your job is to shape it or verify it.
→Before you trust a weighted-revenue number: ask what the win-probability figure is actually based on. A guess dressed up as a percentage is still a guess.
→Before you quote or defend a rate: be able to say, in one breath, what's in it — wage, overhead, profit — not just what it costs.

How am I supposed to do it?

Start with raw wage — what the person is actually paid per hour.
Add overhead — their fair share of everything indirect (rent, admin, benefits, unbilled time).
That total is break-even — the rate that covers cost with zero profit.
Add the firm's target profit on top. That's the target rate — what we intend to bill.
Divide target by wage. That ratio is the multiplier — the one number that summarizes the whole build.

Get the expected fee for the pursuit (the gross value if won).
Get a calibrated win probability — not a guess.
Multiply the two. That's the pursuit's weighted revenue.
Add it to every other active pursuit's weighted revenue. That sum is backlog.
Treat backlog as a staffing/hiring signal, not a scoreboard — stale or optimistic inputs misdirect real hiring decisions.

Formulas box

Formula	Reads as
Gross Revenue − (Sub Fees + Reimbursables) = NSR	Net service revenue is what the firm actually earned.
Wage + Overhead = Break-Even Rate	The floor — zero profit.
Break-Even + Profit = Target Rate	What we intend to bill.
Target Rate ÷ Wage = Multiplier	One ratio, whole model.
Expected Fee × Win Probability = Weighted Revenue	One pursuit's probability-adjusted value.
Σ Weighted Revenue (all active pursuits) = Backlog	What the firm staffs and hires against.

WSE tools referenced

Tool / system	What it's for
Weston & Sampson financial model	Source of truth for the firm's real multiplier, overhead factor, utilization, and blended rates (illustrative placeholders until actuals are loaded).
Vantagepoint	The opportunity-management system where backlog and weighted revenue are tracked for real. You'll use it directly starting Week 3.
ESOP	The mechanism that turns firm margin into your personal equity — the reason this week's economics are your business, not just the firm's.

Next: Week 2 (live)

The Go/No-Go Decision — bring your three carry-forward questions.