Cost Breakdown
Visual breakdown of where each dollar goes. Marketing typically represents 40-60% of burn.
Financial Model
Four paths to building SpotFynder, from bootstrap to seed
How to Use This Model
This interactive financial model shows four different funding scenarios for SpotFynder's first year. Each scenario represents a different level of ambition and risk tolerance. Use the tabs above to explore each path, and adjust the sliders below to see how changes in spending affect outcomes.
Key Assumptions:
- All scenarios assume zero revenue in Year 1 (conservative approach)
- Founders work for equity only (no salary costs)
- Customer acquisition costs improve with scale due to network effectsi
- Infrastructure costs scale with user growth
Ultra Lean
$50-75K Bootstrap
Lean
$150-200K F&F
Growth
$300-400K Angel
All In
$500K-1M Seed
Understanding Each Path
Bootstrap Mode: Prove It Works
Strategy: Focus entirely on Vancouver. Build core product with founders only. Use guerrilla marketing and organic growth tactics.
Key Trade-offs: Slower growth but maximum equity retention. No safety net - must achieve product-market fit quickly.
Success Metrics: 10K engaged users proving 15%+ D30i retention. Strong enough signal to raise a proper round.
Best For: Founders with prior exits, strong technical skills, or access to free resources. Requires extreme capital efficiency.
💡 Founder Note: We believe the Lean scenario offers the best balance - enough runway to prove the model without excessive dilution. Vancouver's lower costs give us an efficiency advantage over US-only competitors.
Key Metrics
$65,000
Year 1 Burni
Total cash spent in first 12 months
13.8
Months Runwayi
How long funding lasts at this burn ratei
10K
Target MAUi
Expected active users by month 12
$3.00
CACi
Customer Acquisition Cost per user
300K
Expected Reach
Total audience exposed to campaigns
90
Content Assets
Posts, stories, and reels created
Year 1 Cost Breakdown
Infrastructure
AWS, APIs, Tools
$10,000
$833/month avg
What's included?
- AWSi hosting (EC2i, RDSi, S3i)
- Cloudinaryi for image optimization
- Analytics tools (Mixpaneli free tier)
- Email/domain services
Operations
Legal, Accounting, Admin
$10,000
Essential only
What's included?
- Company incorporation & legal setup
- Quarterly legal reviews
- Basic bookkeeping & tax filing
- Business insurance
City Seedingi
Content & Photographers
$15,000
2 cities
What's included?
- Professional photography: $5,000 per city
- Local content creators: $2,500 per city
- Launch events & meetups: $2,000 per city
- LA premium (20% higher costs):
Marketing
Influencers & Ads
$30,000
70% organic focus
What's included?
- Micro-influenceri partnerships
- Content amplification
- Limited paid social tests
- PR & community events
Influencer Strategy Breakdown
Based on current market rates: Instagram micro-influencersi (5K-50K) charge $100-$500 per post, with LA commanding 20-30% premium over Vancouver.
Equity & Alternative Compensation
Reducing Cash Burn Through Aligned Incentives
Beyond cash payments, we'll implement a hybrid compensation model based on research showing equity can attract high-quality creators:
70%
Cash payments
For consistency and immediate needs
20%
Equity (0.01-0.05%)
For top performers and long-term partners
10%
Product & Perks
Early access, badges, event invites
Adjust Assumptions
Use these controls to stress-test the model. See how changes in key variables affect runway and growth.
Marketing Spend Multiplier
1.0x
Increase marketing spend to acquire users faster (but at higher CACi)
Number of Cities
2
More cities = more seeding costs but larger addressable market
Infrastructure Growth Rate
10%
Higher user growth requires more server capacity and tools
Projections
Monthly Burn Ratei
Shows monthly spending (bars) and remaining cash balance (line). Notice higher burn in early months for setup costs.
Conservative model assumes no revenue in Year 1 - focus on user growth
User Growth Projection
S-curve growth model: slow start, rapid growth phase, then plateau as market saturates.
Seasonal Marketing Allocation
Spring/Summer focus aligns with peak exploration behavior. We front-load marketing spend when users are most active.
Year 2 Implications
Year 2 projections assume successful seed raise and proven product-market fit
$500K
Required Raise
50K
Projected Users
$0
Revenue (Focus on Growth)
5
Active Cities
3
Partnership Targets
Risk Scenarios & Stress Tests
What If Things Don't Go As Planned?
Influencer Conversion Rate
1.0%
Base case assumes 1% of reached users install. What if it's lower?
LA Cost Premium
LA influencers charge more. What if the premium is higher?
Common Questions
Why assume zero revenue in Year 1?
We're being conservative. We want to focus entirely on user growth and product-market fit in Year 1. Any revenue generated would be upside to this model.
How does CAC improve with scale?
As more users join, organic growth increases through word-of-mouth and social sharing. Network effectsi mean each user brings friends, reducing our need for paid acquisition.
Why not hire engineers immediately?
The founding team can handle development for the MVPi. Delaying hires preserves cash and extends runwayi. We only hire when growth demands it.
What happens if we raise less than planned?
We can scale down to a smaller scenario. Even $50K gets us to 10K users in Vancouver - enough to prove the concept and raise a larger round.
Calculations verified ✓