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Workshop Workshop

Financial Modeling for Startups

You can’t fundraise, set pricing, or make hiring decisions without understanding your unit economics. Most founders learn this the hard way—after burning through their first round of capital.

This workshop demystifies startup finance. You’ll learn how to build financial models that investors actually trust, understand unit economics well enough to make intelligent tradeoffs, and navigate the fundraising process without giving away the company.

This isn’t an MBA finance course. It’s the minimum viable knowledge you need to run a startup without running out of money.

Curriculum

01

Unit Economics

  • CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): what it actually costs to get a customer
  • LTV (Lifetime Value): how much a customer is worth over time
  • The LTV:CAC ratio and why 3:1 is the magic number
  • Payback period: how long until you break even on a customer
  • Contribution margin: understanding profitability at the unit level
02

Fundraising

  • Pre-seed vs seed vs Series A: what investors expect at each stage
  • Building a fundraising model: how much to raise and what milestones to hit
  • Valuation 101: how startups are valued and why most valuations are made up
  • SAFEs vs equity rounds: pros and cons of each structure
  • Dilution: understanding how much of the company you'll give away
03

Cap Tables

  • Reading and building a cap table from scratch
  • Fully diluted shares and option pools
  • How founder ownership changes across funding rounds
  • Employee equity: how much to grant and when to grant it
  • Liquidation preferences and anti-dilution provisions (the terms that matter)

What You'll Achieve

  • Build a complete financial model for your startup
  • Understand your unit economics and know which metrics drive profitability
  • Navigate fundraising conversations with confidence
  • Read and manage your cap table
  • Make data-driven decisions about pricing, hiring, and growth investments

Mentors

Taught by finance professionals who've worked with early-stage startups—CFOs, finance leads, and investors who've modeled hundreds of companies and understand what makes the numbers work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an accounting background?
No. We assume zero finance knowledge. If you can use a spreadsheet, you can learn this.
Is this relevant if I'm not fundraising?
Yes. Even bootstrapped companies need to understand unit economics, pricing strategy, and cash flow management. The fundraising section is optional if you're not raising capital.
What tools will we use?
Google Sheets or Excel. We'll provide templates for financial models and cap tables.

Ready to Start?

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Discuss your path with an admissions mentor. No pressure, just clarity.

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