SaaS Unit Economics & Financial Modeling for Startups

Lesson 1

Anatomy of the SaaS Business Model

Define recurring revenue fundamentals, subscription business models, and key structural differences from transactional commerce.

Lesson 2

Calculating MRR and ARR accurately

Calculate MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) and ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) under different billing schedules and contract terms.

Lesson 3

Contract Terms & Revenue Recognition (ASC 606)

Analyze contract structures, multi-year prepayments, and deferred revenue recognition principles under ASC 606.

Lesson 4

Comparing Pricing Architectures and Packaging

Evaluate the strategic trade-offs between flat subscription, tiered pricing, and consumption-based monetization models.

Lesson 5

Setting Up the Financial Model Workspace

Build a dynamic spreadsheet skeleton designed to house clean, auditable financial statements and projection formulas.

Lesson 6

Building the Core MRR Waterfall Engine

Construct a comprehensive monthly MRR waterfall integrating new sales, expansion, contraction, and churn movements.

Lesson 7

Differentiating Logo Churn and Revenue Churn

Calculate logo churn and revenue churn monthly rates, identifying the distinct business drivers behind each.

Lesson 8

Calculating NRR and GRR Metrics

Calculate Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) to diagnose customer base health and net expansion capacity.

Lesson 9

Constructing Cohort Retention Matrices

Construct cohort retention tables by sign-up month to visualize multi-period retention decay curves.

Lesson 10

Analyzing Cohort Expansion and Net Negative Churn

Analyze cohort expansion dynamics, identifying how upselling and cross-selling offset underlying base contraction.

Lesson 11

Calculating Blended CAC

Calculate blended Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) using total sales and marketing expenses over new customer counts.

Lesson 12

Computing Fully Loaded CAC

Compute fully loaded CAC by allocating payroll, tools, overhead, and capitalized acquisition commissions (ASC 340-40).

Lesson 13

Modeling Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

Calculate Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) using ARPU, gross margin, and customer churn rates.

Lesson 14

Calculating CAC Payback Periods

Calculate the CAC Payback Period in months to measure cash recovery speed on customer acquisition investments.

Lesson 15

Auditing Unit Economics Health Ratios

Audit unit economics health by analyzing standard benchmarks for the LTV:CAC ratio and payback thresholds.

Lesson 16

Modeling the Sales and Marketing Funnel

Link marketing lead generation volume, conversion funnel stages, and sales pipeline velocities to New MRR production.

Lesson 17

Forecasting COGS and Gross Margins

Calculate SaaS gross margins by separating infrastructure (AWS/cloud) and customer success costs from general operations.

Lesson 18

Designing the Headcount and Payroll Schedule

Build a head-count plan connecting department growth milestones, fully burdened salaries, and hiring ramp schedules.

Lesson 19

Forecasting Operating Expenses (OpEx)

Forecast operating expenses (OpEx) across R&D, sales & marketing, and general & administrative categories.

Lesson 20

Integrating the Three Financial Statements

Connect the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement into a fully integrated dynamic financial model.

Lesson 21

Calculating Burn Rate and Cash Runway

Calculate monthly cash burn rate and project cash runway under different revenue growth and cost scenarios.

Lesson 22

Applying the Burn Multiple Framework

Calculate the Burn Multiple to evaluate capital efficiency relative to net new ARR generation.

Lesson 23

Assessing Performance via the Rule of 40

Evaluate startup operational health using the Rule of 40 framework combining growth rate and profit margin.

Lesson 24

Building Multi-Scenario Financial Projections

Model multi-scenario projections (conservative, base, aggressive) to stress-test financial resilience and operational assumptions.

Lesson 25

Valuing a SaaS Startup for Fundraising

Calculate startup valuation ranges using revenue multiples, comparable company benchmarks, and DCF methodologies.

Lesson 26

Designing Investor-Ready Financial Slides

Structure a pitch deck financial slide displaying historical performance, unit economics, and growth forecasts.

Lesson 27

Preparing Financial Due Diligence Data Rooms

Prepare a data room financial audit checklist addressing common institutional due diligence questions.

Lesson 28

Simulating Cap Table Dilution and Funding Scenarios

Model the dilutive impact of venture financing rounds, option pools, and convertible instruments on founder equity.

Lesson 29

Managing Working Capital and Cash Flow Gaps

Analyze working capital dynamics, cash collection timing gaps, and accounts receivable management for B2B SaaS.

Lesson 30

Auditing and Stress-Testing the Final Model

Execute a comprehensive model audit to verify cross-sheet formula integrity, balance sheet reconciliation, and error checks.