A lot of what goes wrong in a round is preparation. The model cannot answer the partner's follow-up question, the cohort data has to be rebuilt the week diligence opens, and the term sheet gets signed before anyone has modelled what the liquidation preference does at a realistic exit. We build the model, get the numbers ready for diligence, price the terms on the table, and run the monthly reporting after the round closes. The fee and the scope are agreed before work begins.
Startup finance work is priced by funding stage, with the capital raise engagement as a one-off and the embedded finance office on a monthly fee. The capital raise engagement carries the model, the investor package, the deck financials, the valuation view, the governance pack and the term sheet modelling. The embedded finance office produces the monthly board pack and the financial sections of the investor update after the round closes. Each can be taken on its own, with the fee and scope agreed before work begins.
You are raising and the model you have was built for the last round or built by somebody who has left.
A term sheet has arrived and you need to know what the preference stack, the pool increase and the conversion terms do to your proceeds before you sign.
Diligence is starting and the cohort, retention and acquisition data has never been assembled in one place.
You have raised, the board now expects a pack every month, and producing it is eating the week after close.
An investor is not primarily testing whether the forecast is right, because everybody in the room knows it is not. They are testing whether the founder understands the machine well enough that the forecast is an argument.
That is why the structure of a startup model matters more than its growth rate. Revenue built from a percentage increase on last year tells an investor nothing, because it hides the only questions that count, which are how customers are acquired, what that costs, how many stay, and what they are worth while they do. Revenue built from acquisition and retention drivers answers all four, and it also means a partner can change one assumption in the room and watch the whole thing move, which is the moment a model stops being a document and starts being useful.
The second failure is in the data rather than the model. Cohorts have never been cut properly, so retention gets quoted as a single number that averages a good month and a terrible one. Customer acquisition cost gets calculated on a definition that moves between slides. Net and gross retention get used interchangeably. None of that survives a diligence process, and discovering it during diligence costs weeks at the exact moment weeks are most expensive.
What comes out of these engagements is a monthly three-statement model with a balance check and a runway that states plainly which month the cash ends, a cohort engine with retention curves, expansion and contraction, acquisition economics with the definitions written down, revenue bridges isolating new, expansion, contraction and churn, and a question file carrying the questions investors will ask with the prepared answer and the backing data behind each one.
On the term sheet work the output is a number. Each term gets translated into dollars at a range of realistic exit values, so the conversation about participation, caps, stacking and the option pool happens in money.
Term sheet economics is the engagement founders most often skip and most often regret skipping, because the terms that cost the most are rarely the ones being negotiated hardest.
Fixed fees depend on funding stage and whether you need the capital raise engagement or the embedded finance office.
| Engagement | Pre-seed and Seed | Series A | Series B and later |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Raise, one-off | $3,500 | $8,500 | $14,999 |
| Embedded Finance Office, per month | $2,500 | $4,500 | $7,500 |
Embedded Finance Office covers investor and board reporting sitting on top of your existing bookkeeping. Finance Support is available separately where the bookkeeping, close and reconciliations also need to be carried.
From $3,500
We build the model, the package and the governance pack, and price the terms when they arrive.
From $2,500 per month
We produce the board pack, the budget tracking and the investor update financials every month.
Capital Raise covers the whole run-up to a round. It builds the monthly three-statement model with revenue from acquisition and retention drivers, the hiring plan running into the profit and loss, and runway by month with the month it ends stated plainly. It recasts the historicals to investor presentation standard, builds the cohort engine and the acquisition economics with every definition stated, and isolates new, expansion, contraction and churn in the revenue bridge. It produces the investor data pack, the diligence question file and the financial sections of the deck, a valuation view on the business, and the governance pack covering the cap table, the board materials and the reporting calendar. When a term sheet arrives it models the preference stack, every SAFE and note conversion, the option pool shuffle, the dilution path through future rounds, and what you and your employees actually receive at each exit value.
Embedded Finance Office applies after a round closes, when the board expects a pack every month. It produces the monthly board pack in a format that stays consistent, with budget against actual and written explanations above an agreed threshold. A close review runs before anything goes out. It tracks burn and runway against plan with an alert when the runway moves, maintains the KPI dashboard, and writes the financial sections of the investor update.
| Deliverable | Component | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Excel model | Control and assumptions | Assumptions isolated and labelled, each one carrying its source |
| Excel model | Revenue build | Revenue by channel, segment and sales motion, built from the acquisition and retention drivers |
| Excel model | Hiring plan | A hiring plan by role and start date flowing straight into the profit and loss |
| Excel model | Three statements | Monthly profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow with a balance check |
| Excel model | Cap table | The current cap table with options and convertibles reflected |
| Excel model | Runway | Cash runway by month with the month it ends stated plainly |
| Excel model | Scenario analysis | Base, upside and downside driven from one switch |
| Excel model | KPI tracking sheet | KPI definitions and a tracking sheet to maintain monthly |
| Excel model | Dashboard | A board-ready output view |
| Investor materials | Deck financials | The financial sections of the deck built from the model, with every figure tracing back to it |
| Investor materials | Valuation view | A view on what the business is worth on the current numbers, with the method and the comparable set stated |
| Governance pack | Board materials | The board pack format agreed and the first pack built, so the standard is set before the reporting starts |
| Governance pack | Reporting calendar | The reporting calendar agreed, with dates for the board pack, the investor update and the monthly close |
| Investor financial package | Data room financials | Historical financials recast to investor presentation standard with the mapping shown |
| Unit economics engine | Cohort engine | Cohorts by month with retention curves, expansion and contraction |
| Unit economics engine | Acquisition economics | Customer acquisition cost by channel, payback period, and lifetime value to acquisition cost with the definitions stated |
| Unit economics engine | Retention metrics | Net and gross revenue retention by cohort and in aggregate |
| Revenue bridges | Recurring revenue bridge | New, expansion, contraction and churn isolated by month |
| Capital efficiency | Burn multiple | Burn multiple and capital efficiency measured against the funding raised to date |
| Diligence preparation | Question file | The questions investors will ask with the prepared answer and the backing data for each |
| Excel term sheet model | Pre and post-money | Pre and post-money modelling at the terms on the table |
| Excel term sheet model | Liquidation preference waterfall | The full waterfall with participation, caps and stacking across the existing preference stack |
| Excel term sheet model | Conversion | Conversion of every SAFE and convertible note under each scenario, including discounts and caps |
| Excel term sheet model | Option pool shuffle | The effect of the pool increase on founder ownership, shown before and after |
| Excel term sheet model | Dilution path | Dilution across the modelled future rounds through to exit |
| Excel term sheet model | Proceeds analysis | Founder and employee proceeds at a range of exit values |
| Written summary | What each term costs | Each term translated into dollars at the likely exit outcomes |
| Deliverable | Component | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly board pack | Pack contents | Financials, KPIs and written commentary in a format that stays consistent month to month |
| Monthly reporting | Budget against actual | Variance and flux analysis with written explanations above the agreed threshold |
| Monthly reporting | Close review | The monthly close reviewed before reporting goes out |
| Monthly reporting | Burn and runway | Burn and runway tracked against plan with an alert when the runway moves |
| Monthly reporting | KPI dashboard | The dashboard maintained with trend and plan comparison |
| Investor updates | Financial sections | The financial and metrics sections of the investor update drafted |
The request covers the accounting records, the customer and revenue data at transaction level, the cap table with every instrument, the hiring plan and whatever model exists, because the cohort work cannot be built from summary figures.
The historical period is built and tied to the accounting records, and the cohorts are cut from transaction level data, which is usually the stage that surfaces whether the metrics being used internally are defined consistently.
Acquisition, retention, pricing, hiring and cost drivers are built with each assumption sourced and dated, and the runway falls out of the model.
A partner reviews before release, the balance check has to read zero in every period, and the metrics are tied back to the underlying data.
You receive the model and the files behind it with a walkthrough for whoever will own them, and on the ongoing engagement the monthly cycle then runs to a published calendar.
The cohort and acquisition data takes the longest to assemble, and pulling it together after diligence has opened holds up the whole process. Building it before you go out means a partner's follow-up question gets answered from the model rather than from a scramble.
The reporting obligation starts immediately and the first board pack sets the format for every one after it, which is worth getting right once. This engagement sits on top of the bookkeeping you already have.
To start we need access to the accounting system and the last two years of records where they exist. We also need the customer and revenue data at transaction level that the cohort work is built from, and the cap table with every instrument on it, including all SAFEs and convertible notes with their caps and discounts. Send the hiring plan and any existing model, budget or investor deck.
Audit, review and compilation engagements. Any opinion or assurance on financial statements. 409A valuations and certified appraisals. ESOP valuations. Fair value measurement under ASC 805 and ASC 820. Fairness opinions. Tax return preparation and tax opinions. Securities placement, investor solicitation, and any transaction-contingent or success fee.
TEOL Capital is not a broker-dealer, an investment adviser, a placement agent or a finder. Engagements are preparation and support work. TEOL does not place securities, solicit investors or make investor introductions, and takes no success, contingency or placement fee.
The fees published here are indicative, set against the scope described on each page, and a final quote is confirmed in writing before any engagement letter is issued. Nothing published here is an offer, and no engagement begins until a letter is signed by both sides. Work outside the stated scope is identified and quoted before it begins. Full payment or a 50% deposit on engagements under $10,000, and 50% at start with 50% at delivery above that. Turnaround is quoted on receipt of a complete information request and is a target rather than a term of the engagement. Fees are reviewed quarterly, and an engagement letter issued at a published fee holds that fee regardless of any later review. Work is prepared for the client named in the engagement letter and for that client's own use. Anyone else who receives it does so for information and cannot rely on it. Management accounts, consolidations and financial statements we prepare are built from the records management maintains and remain management's responsibility. We do not guarantee any particular outcome, including a sale, a financing, a valuation conclusion or a price. Our liability on any engagement is limited to the fees paid for that engagement.