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Agent skill

Startup Financial Modeling

by wshobson in wshobson/agents

Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups.

MITAuto-check passedBusiness, Finance & HR

Install Startup Financial Modeling

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill startup-financial-modeling -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wshobson/agents startup-financial-modeling --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wshobson/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/startup-business-analyst/skills/startup-financial-modeling .claude/skills/startup-financial-modeling && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
startup-financial-modeling
GitHub stars
40k
Token cost
~1.9k tokens
SKILL.md length
794 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
142
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups.

  • Works in 4 steps: Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) → Sales & Marketing (S&M) → Research & Development (R&D) → …
  • Creating financial projections
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Core Components, Financial Model Structure and Detailed section: Step-by-Step…, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Startup Financial Modeling is an agent skill from wshobson/agents. Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups. Use this skill when creating financial projections, calculating burn rate or runway, modeling fundraising scenarios, or preparing investor-ready financials for a seed or Series A raise.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.9k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/details.md`).

It sits in Business, Finance & HR, covering Financial modeling and Fundraising and pitch decks. The repository describes itself as: Multi-harness agentic plugin marketplace for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, Google Antigravity, and Pi. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Creating financial projections
  • Calculating burn rate
  • Modeling fundraising scenarios
  • Preparing investor-ready financials for a seed

Example prompts

  • “/startup-financial-modeling”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
  2. Sales & Marketing (S&M)
  3. Research & Development (R&D)
  4. General & Administrative (G&A)

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 46891e7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Startup Financial Modeling loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.6k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 92 tokens; SKILL.md has 794 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~92
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.9k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~2.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wshobson/agents at commit 46891e7, republished under its MIT licence (© wshobson). 794 words, ~1,932 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/startup-financial-modeling/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
startup-financial-modeling
description
Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups. Use this skill when creating financial projections, calculating burn rate or runway, modeling fundraising scenarios, or preparing investor-ready financials for a seed or Series A raise.
version
1.0.0

Startup Financial Modeling

Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups.

Overview

Financial modeling provides the quantitative foundation for startup strategy, fundraising, and operational planning. Create realistic projections using cohort-based revenue modeling, detailed cost structures, and scenario analysis to support decision-making and investor presentations.

Core Components

Revenue Model

Cohort-Based Projections: Build revenue from customer acquisition and retention by cohort.

Formula:

MRR = Σ (Cohort Size × Retention Rate × ARPU)
ARR = MRR × 12

Key Inputs:

  • Monthly new customer acquisitions
  • Customer retention rates by month
  • Average revenue per user (ARPU)
  • Pricing and packaging assumptions
  • Expansion revenue (upsells, cross-sells)
Cost Structure

Operating Expenses Categories:

  1. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

    • Hosting and infrastructure
    • Payment processing fees
    • Customer support (variable portion)
    • Third-party services per customer

  2. Sales & Marketing (S&M)

    • Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
    • Marketing programs and advertising
    • Sales team compensation
    • Marketing tools and software

  3. Research & Development (R&D)

    • Engineering team compensation
    • Product management
    • Design and UX
    • Development tools and infrastructure

  4. General & Administrative (G&A)

    • Executive team
    • Finance, legal, HR
    • Office and facilities
    • Insurance and compliance
Cash Flow Analysis

Components:

  • Beginning cash balance
  • Cash inflows (revenue, fundraising)
  • Cash outflows (operating expenses, CapEx)
  • Ending cash balance
  • Monthly burn rate
  • Runway (months of cash remaining)

Formula:

Runway = Current Cash Balance / Monthly Burn Rate
Monthly Burn = Monthly Revenue - Monthly Expenses
Headcount Planning

Role-Based Hiring Plan: Track headcount by department and role.

Key Metrics:

  • Fully-loaded cost per employee
  • Revenue per employee
  • Headcount by department (% of total)

Typical Ratios (Early-Stage SaaS):

  • Engineering: 40-50%
  • Sales & Marketing: 25-35%
  • G&A: 10-15%
  • Customer Success: 5-10%

Financial Model Structure

Three-Scenario Framework

Conservative Scenario (P10):

  • Slower customer acquisition
  • Lower pricing or conversion
  • Higher churn rates
  • Extended sales cycles
  • Used for cash management

Base Scenario (P50):

  • Most likely outcomes
  • Realistic assumptions
  • Primary planning scenario
  • Used for board reporting

Optimistic Scenario (P90):

  • Faster growth
  • Better unit economics
  • Lower churn
  • Used for upside planning
Time Horizon

Detailed Projections: 3 Years

  • Monthly detail for Year 1
  • Monthly detail for Year 2
  • Quarterly detail for Year 3

High-Level Projections: Years 4-5

  • Annual projections
  • Key metrics only
  • Support long-term planning

Detailed section: Step-by-Step Process

Originally a 2763-byte section in this SKILL.md. Moved to references/details.md to fit Codex's 8 KB skill body cap.

Business Model Templates

SaaS Financial Model

Revenue Drivers:

  • New MRR (customers × ARPU)
  • Expansion MRR (upsells)
  • Contraction MRR (downgrades)
  • Churned MRR (lost customers)

Key Ratios:

  • Gross margin: 75-85%
  • S&M as % revenue: 40-60% (early stage)
  • CAC payback: < 12 months
  • Net retention: 100-120%

Example Projection:

Year 1: $500K ARR, 50 customers, $100K MRR by Dec
Year 2: $2.5M ARR, 200 customers, $208K MRR by Dec
Year 3: $8M ARR, 600 customers, $667K MRR by Dec
Marketplace Financial Model

Revenue Drivers:

  • GMV (Gross Merchandise Value)
  • Take rate (% of GMV)
  • Net revenue = GMV × Take rate

Key Ratios:

  • Take rate: 10-30% depending on category
  • CAC for buyers vs. sellers
  • Contribution margin: 60-70%

Example Projection:

Year 1: $5M GMV, 15% take rate = $750K revenue
Year 2: $20M GMV, 15% take rate = $3M revenue
Year 3: $60M GMV, 15% take rate = $9M revenue
E-Commerce Financial Model

Revenue Drivers:

  • Traffic (visitors)
  • Conversion rate
  • Average order value (AOV)
  • Purchase frequency

Key Ratios:

  • Gross margin: 40-60%
  • Contribution margin: 20-35%
  • CAC payback: 3-6 months
Services / Agency Financial Model

Revenue Drivers:

  • Billable hours or projects
  • Hourly rate or project fee
  • Utilization rate
  • Team capacity

Key Ratios:

  • Gross margin: 50-70%
  • Utilization: 70-85%
  • Revenue per employee
Show full SKILL.md (313 more words)Show less

Fundraising Integration

Funding Scenario Modeling

Pre-Money Valuation: Based on metrics and comparables.

Dilution:

Post-Money = Pre-Money + Investment
Dilution % = Investment / Post-Money

Use of Funds: Allocate funding to extend runway and achieve milestones.

Example:

Raise: $5M at $20M pre-money
Post-Money: $25M
Dilution: 20%

Use of Funds:
- Product Development: $2M (40%)
- Sales & Marketing: $2M (40%)
- G&A and Operations: $0.5M (10%)
- Working Capital: $0.5M (10%)
Milestone-Based Planning

Identify Key Milestones:

  • Product launch
  • First $1M ARR
  • Break-even on CAC
  • Series A fundraise

Funding Amount: Ensure runway to achieve next milestone + 6 months buffer.

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Overly Optimistic Revenue

  • New startups rarely hit aggressive projections
  • Use conservative customer acquisition assumptions
  • Model realistic churn rates

Pitfall 2: Underestimating Costs

  • Add 20% buffer to expense estimates
  • Include fully-loaded compensation
  • Account for software and tools

Pitfall 3: Ignoring Cash Flow Timing

  • Revenue ≠ cash (payment terms)
  • Expenses paid before revenue collected
  • Model cash conversion carefully

Pitfall 4: Static Headcount

  • Hiring takes time (3-6 months to fill roles)
  • Ramp time for productivity (3-6 months)
  • Account for attrition (10-15% annually)

Pitfall 5: Not Scenario Planning

  • Single scenario is never accurate
  • Always model conservative case
  • Plan for what you'll do if base case fails

Model Validation

Sanity Checks:

  • Revenue growth rate is achievable (3x in Year 2, 2x in Year 3)
  • Unit economics are realistic (LTV/CAC > 3, payback < 18 months)
  • Burn multiple is reasonable (< 2.0 in Year 2-3)
  • Headcount scales with revenue (revenue per employee growing)
  • Gross margin is appropriate for business model
  • S&M spending aligns with CAC and growth targets

Benchmark Against Peers: Compare key metrics to similar companies at similar stage.

Investor Feedback: Share model with advisors or investors for feedback on assumptions.

Quick Start

To create a startup financial model:

  1. Define business model - Revenue drivers and pricing
  2. Project revenue - Cohort-based with retention
  3. Model costs - COGS, S&M, R&D, G&A by month
  4. Plan headcount - Hiring by role and department
  5. Calculate cash flow - Revenue - expenses = burn/runway
  6. Compute metrics - CAC, LTV, burn multiple, runway
  7. Create scenarios - Conservative, base, optimistic
  8. Validate assumptions - Sanity check and benchmark
  9. Integrate fundraising - Model funding rounds and milestones

© wshobson, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in plugins/startup-business-analyst/skills/startup-financial-modeling of wshobson/agents.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/details.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 46891e7

Compare with similar skills

Startup Financial Modeling next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Startup Financial Modeling compared with similar skills
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Startup Financial Modeling this skillwshobson/agents40k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
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Ib Pitch Booknexu-io/open-design100k—~2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Cap Table Waterfalldavepoon/buildwithclaude3.6k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Pitch Deckericrisco/rsc-harness180—~3.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Financial Comparison Glossary Ignacio Adrian Lererlawve-ai/awesome-legal-skills847—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Categories

Questions about Startup Financial Modeling

What does Startup Financial Modeling do?

Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups. Startup Financial Modeling is an agent skill from wshobson/agents. Build comprehensive 3-5 year financial models with revenue projections, cost structures, cash flow analysis, and scenario planning for early-stage startups.

When should I use Startup Financial Modeling?

Startup Financial Modeling fits situations like: creating financial projections; calculating burn rate; modeling fundraising scenarios; preparing investor-ready financials for a seed.

How do I install Startup Financial Modeling in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill startup-financial-modeling -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/startup-business-analyst/skills/startup-financial-modeling in wshobson/agents) into .claude/skills/startup-financial-modeling in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Startup Financial Modeling in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill startup-financial-modeling -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/startup-business-analyst/skills/startup-financial-modeling in wshobson/agents) into .agents/skills/startup-financial-modeling in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Startup Financial Modeling in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill startup-financial-modeling -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/startup-financial-modeling, .gemini/skills/startup-financial-modeling, .github/skills/startup-financial-modeling and .opencode/skills/startup-financial-modeling in your project.

What does Startup Financial Modeling need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Startup Financial Modeling is instructions for the agent only.

Does Startup Financial Modeling access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Startup Financial Modeling safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Startup Financial Modeling use?

Startup Financial Modeling is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Startup Financial Modeling use?

About 1.9k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 706 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Startup Financial Modeling?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Startup Financial Modeling: Investor Materials (cohen-liel/hivemind, 110 stars), Ib Pitch Book (nexu-io/open-design, 100k stars), Cap Table Waterfall (davepoon/buildwithclaude, 3.6k stars) and Pitch Deck (ericrisco/rsc-harness, 180 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Startup Financial Modeling?

wshobson (a GitHub user) maintains it in wshobson/agents, which has 40,314 GitHub stars. The repository holds 142 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: wshobson/agents on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.