Fundraise Sizing and Runway Model
Size a funding round with a monthly cash forecast, reconciled use of funds, milestone costs, and downside runway.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
Here's a framework for your seed fundraising model: **Revenue projections**: Build a 3-year forecast showing monthly revenue growth. Investors typically want to see a path to significant scale. **Expense categories**: Break out payroll, sales & marketing, infrastructure, and G&A. **Use of funds**: Show how you'll allocate the $3M — commonly around 60% engineering, 25% go-to-market, 15% operations. **Runway**: Calculate how many months the raise gives you at your projected burn. **Key metrics**: Include CAC, LTV, churn, and growth rate. I'd recommend building this in a spreadsheet with monthly granularity for year one and quarterly thereafter. Want me to detail any section?
SEED MODEL — $3M
USE OF FUNDS
Engineering $1,560K 52% 6 hires (4 BE, 1 FE, 1 infra)
Go-to-market $ 810K 27% 2 AE, 1 marketer, $180K programs
Ops & G&A $ 390K 13% finance, legal, tooling
Buffer $ 240K 8% unallocated
───────
$3,000K
The buffer is deliberate and you should defend it in the room. A model
that allocates 100% tells an investor you'll be back early.
RUNWAY
Current burn $95K/mo
Post-raise burn $210K/mo by month 6 (hiring ramps, not step-changes)
Runway 22 months at plan · 18 months at 120% of plan
Raise next Month 15, from strength, not month 21 from need
MILESTONES THIS ROUND BUYS — the actual argument
M6 $85K MRR · 3 reference logos · SOC 2 started
M12 $220K MRR · net retention >110% · repeatable sales motion proven
M15 $340K MRR ← Series A metrics, with 7 months of runway left
Frame the raise as buying M15, not as buying 22 months. Investors fund
the next milestone, not the runway.
THE THREE NUMBERS THEY'LL PUSH ON
1. Month-6 hiring ramp — 6 engineers in 6 months is aggressive.
Sensitivity: at 4 hires, M12 MRR is $180K, runway 25 months.
2. CAC payback assumed at 14 months. Show the cohort it came from.
3. 110% net retention with no expansion product yet. Name how.
Model in monthly granularity for Y1, quarterly Y2–Y3. Bring the
sensitivity tab — being asked for it and not having it is the tell.About this skill
“We're raising $2 million” is not a funding model until the cash lasts through the milestones that justify it. This skill builds a monthly cash bridge, sizes the round from the actual funding gap, and exposes hiring ramps or closing delays that could leave the company short.
What it does
- Calculates the gross raise required after existing cash, operating collections, financing fees, and a stated cash reserve.
- Models monthly cash through hiring ramps, collection delays, capital spending, and the expected closing date.
- Reconciles use of funds to the forecast without counting contingency twice.
- Connects major spending decisions to dated, measurable milestones and the next financing window.
- Compares base, upside, and downside plans, including the first month cash breaches the operating reserve.
- Reviews an existing raise model for arithmetic errors, unsupported assumptions, and milestones scheduled after cash runs out.
What you get
A decision-ready funding model with explicit assumptions, monthly cash calculations, a sources-and-uses reconciliation, milestone dependencies, and scenario results. For a quick question, you get the relevant calculation and its implications without a full modeling package.
Best for
Founders and finance leads preparing a seed or venture round, defending a use-of-funds plan, or deciding how hiring and growth commitments affect the amount and timing of a raise.
SKILL.md preview
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name: fundraise-sizing-and-runway-model
description: Build a monthly fundraising cash model that sizes gross proceeds from milestone costs, closing timing, financing fees, and a reserve, then reconciles use of funds and tests downside runway. Use when the user says "how much should we raise", "build our seed round model", "justify this use of funds", "will this round get us to the next milestone", "our runway keeps shrinking after we hire", "check this fundraising spreadsheet", or "what if the round closes late".
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# Fundraise Sizing and Runway Model
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