Money, pricing & model

Your business model, what to charge, and whether the numbers work.

What founders use for money, pricing & model, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. Once you accept that the spreadsheet lied about your cash, this template makes the timing gap concrete: you enter your real... The Startup Project Tool · Downloadable spreadsheet, 15 to 30 minutes to fill in Startup Runway Calculator Template (Excel and Google Sheets) The Startup Project In 2 answers
  2. Reading about CAC and LTV only gets you so far, at some point you have to put your own guesses in a cell and watch what breaks.... The Startup Project Template · Excel and Google Sheets, multi tab Startup Financial Model (SaaS) Excel Template The Startup Project
  3. Before you touch live traffic, the cheapest way to read price sensitivity is to just ask people, and the Van Westendorp method... OpinionX Tool Van Westendorp for Pricing Research: A Survey Guide Daniel Kyne
  4. If you decide usage pricing is right, this is real billing infrastructure that meters events in real time and lets you set... Metronome Tool · Product site, plus docs Metronome: Usage-Based Billing Platform Metronome (now part of Stripe)
  5. This is the template to stop guessing a single LTV number and plot your actual cohorts instead. You type in only the basics... andrewchen.com Tool · Downloadable Excel template plus short guide The easiest spreadsheet for churn, MRR, and cohort analysis Christoph Janz (Point Nine Capital), guest post on Andrew Chen's blog
  6. A free, driver-based Google Sheets model where you plug in your own assumptions and actuals and watch the numbers flow through... Drivetrain Tool · Free Google Sheets template, roughly 30 to 60 minutes to populate SaaS Financial Model Template in Google Sheets Drivetrain
  7. If you are building from an Indian base and selling worldwide, this is a practical, India-registered way to take card and... Razorpay Tool · Product page plus docs Accept International Payments for Global Business (Razorpay) Razorpay
  8. The infrastructure margin leak usually shows up as a bill that crept up while you were shipping, so the fix is seeing it before... vantage.sh Tool · Self-serve setup, roughly 30 minutes Vantage Vantage
  9. When you need a one-time cash injection without giving up equity, this is an actual India-based platform you can approach,... Recur Club Tool · Platform, application-based Recur Club (revenue-based financing and debt for Indian founders) Recur Club
  10. This is a genuinely startup-first way to open a current account in India online, with the account held by a partner bank... RazorpayX Tool RazorpayX Current Account for Businesses RazorpayX
  11. When your spreadsheet starts breaking (you are chasing invoices, guessing at GST, or dreading month-end) Zoho Books is the most... Zoho Books Tool · Free plan, paid tiers from about Rs 899/month Zoho Books Free Accounting Software for Small Businesses in India Zoho
  12. A free, no-signup calculator that forces you and your co-founder to actually weigh the inputs (idea, roles, who is full time,... Foundrs Tool · ~10 minutes to work through Foundrs Co-Founder Equity Calculator Foundrs
  13. This is a ready folder structure (sections A to M covering legal, IP, employment, financials, and cap table) that you can stand... alexanderjarvis.com Template · Downloadable checklist (folders A to M) Due Diligence Request List Template for Startup Fundraising Alexander Jarvis
  14. For Indian founders the cap table is where diligence most often gets messy (SAFEs, convertible notes, ESOP grants, and vesting... qapita.com Tool · SaaS platform Qapita: Cap Table & ESOP Management for Indian Startups Qapita
  15. When your company is in India and your customers are abroad, the practical problem is getting paid in foreign currency through... Wise Tool · Product page Wise Business: receive international payments in India Wise
  16. You do not want to build a three-year model from a blank sheet, and you also do not want a generic one-size template that does... Forecastr Template · 12 templates, make a copy and fill in Forecastr Free Startup Financial Model Templates (Excel and Google Sheets) Forecastr

The questions

Business models explained 18

How the money actually flows.

What business model should I choose for my startup? 3 → What's the difference between SaaS, marketplace, and transactional business models? 3 → How do I make money from a free product or freemium model? 3 → How does a marketplace actually make money and solve the chicken-and-egg problem? 3 → Should I sell to businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C)? 2 → All 18 questions in Business models explained →
Pricing & packaging 18

Charge money. Charge more. Here's how.

How do I decide how much to charge for my product? 3 → What is a value metric and why does it matter for pricing? 2 → How many pricing tiers should I have and how should I package them? 3 → Am I charging too little for my product? 3 → How do I raise prices without losing my existing customers? 3 → All 18 questions in Pricing & packaging →
Unit economics & modeling 18

Know what a customer costs and earns.

What are unit economics and why do they matter? 3 → How do I calculate CAC (customer acquisition cost) and LTV? 3 → What is a good LTV to CAC ratio? 3 → What metrics should I actually track as an early-stage SaaS founder? 3 → How do I build a simple financial model or revenue projection? 3 → All 18 questions in Unit economics & modeling →
Bootstrapping & profitability 18

Grow on customer money, keep control.

Can I really build a successful startup without raising money? 3 → How do I bootstrap a startup with little or no money? 3 → How did Zoho and Zerodha bootstrap to billion-dollar companies? 3 → How do I reach profitability (or ramen profitability) as fast as possible? 3 → Bootstrapping vs raising VC, how do I decide? 3 → All 18 questions in Bootstrapping & profitability →
Startup finance & accounting 18

Keep the books, watch the runway.

What financial basics does every founder need to understand? 2 → What is burn rate and runway, and how do I calculate them? 2 → How should I manage cash flow so my startup doesn't run out of money? 3 → Do I need an accountant and proper bookkeeping from day one? 2 → What taxes and compliance do I need to handle as an Indian startup? 1 → All 18 questions in Startup finance & accounting →
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