Pre-Seed Financial Model: Template with Real Costs Pre-Filled

Building a Pre-Seed Financial Model Without Losing Your Mind

Founders: stop sharing spreadsheets where revenue = rent + coffee. Investors spot fake models in seconds.

The problem

Pre-seed founders think they need a complex model to raise money. So they copy a public Uber S-1, change "rides" to "users", and send it to investors. Bad idea.

What a pre-seed model actually needs

1. Reality-linked assumptions — not fantasy hockey-stick growth
2. Cash burn clarity — when do you run out of money?
3. Headcount costs — the #1 expense in a startup
4. 3 scenarios — conservative, base, optimistic
5. None of it should take 40 hours

The solution: Pre-Seed Financial Model (Google Sheets)

I built a free-ish template that comes pre-filled with realistic startup costs — AWS pricing, salary benchmarks for a 4-person team, Stripe fees, legal, insurance. All you do is adjust 20 green cells.

It includes:

• 3-year P&L, Cash Flow, Balance Sheet (all linked)
• Burn rate, runway, breakeven formulas
• 9 automated charts for your deck
• Funding need calculator (tells you exactly how much to raise)

Grab the template here: https://microtoolsb2b.gumroad.com/l/pre-seed-financial-model

What questions do you have about financial modeling for pre-seed startups?