Financial model
Every number in your model will be questioned. Put the answers in the cells.
I read your model the way an analyst does, cell by cell, looking for the month cash runs out and the number nobody can explain. Or I build it, so every number has a reason.
Reviews in 4 days, builds in 7 to 12English, Italian or PortugueseNDA on request
A fictional company starts with €450k in the bank. In this model, its cash hits zero in month 14.
Where you are
You know where every number came from. The reader doesn’t.
The growth rate felt right when you typed it. The hiring plan came from a talk in March. Somewhere in year two, a cost you always pay dropped out of the sheet.
An analyst opens the file without any of that. Every cell has to explain itself.
Where does 9% a month come from?
What actually happens
Few forecasts come true. What gets read is the logic.
Forecasts miss
Dave Berkus, the author of the Berkus valuation method, believes that fewer than one startup in a thousand meets or beats its projected revenues in the periods planned. So readers check how you got there.
Intent isn’t revenue
A letter of intent isn’t revenue, and neither is a verbal agreement. a16z’s metrics guide says they aren’t bookings either. Count one anyway and the investor sees how you define a number.
Numbers must agree
CRV, a US venture firm, lists conflicting numbers among the quickest ways to stall a deal. The deck, the data room and your answers all start in the model.
The real price
What a model nobody trusts really costs you.
Your runway
The median gap between seed and Series A was 1.9 years at the end of 2025, says Carta. A model that stops at twelve months leaves the second year to chance.
Your ownership
The median founding team holds about 56% of its company after the seed round and 36% after Series A, according to Carta’s 2026 report. You can plan that dilution, or find out about it later.
Your company
CB Insights found that running out of capital was one of the reasons in 70% of the VC-backed startups that shut down since 2023. A model that names the month gives you time to act on it.
Where you want to be
Now picture the analyst’s question.
The analyst asks where the growth rate comes from. You click the cell and the driver is there. What if growth is half as fast? One input changes, and the month your cash runs out moves on screen. Now you’re talking about the business.
An investor opens a model to find out whether you understand your own business. Where does the money go? What makes it grow? What happens when it doesn’t?
What you receive
A review that points at the cell.
Every review comes back as your own file, with notes pinned to the cells they refer to. The company below is fictional.
Model review · fictional company
| € thousands | Month 1 | Month 6 | Month 12 | Month 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 15 | 23 | 39 | 46 |
| Growth input, % a month | n/a | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Payroll | 30 | 36 | 51 | 51 |
| Rent | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Other costs | 10 | 15 | 21 | 23 |
| Net burn | 28 | 31 | 36 | 28 |
| Cash at month end | 422 | 271 | 59 | 0 |
Month 14 breaks here. Cash reaches zero, and nothing in the plan says where the next money comes from.
This growth rate has no driver behind it. Tie 9% a month to leads, conversion or price, so it can be questioned.
Rent is missing in year two. Put it back and cash goes €6k below zero by month 14.
Fictional company, figures in € thousands. Cut growth to 5% a month from 9% and the same model runs out of cash in month 12.
Three levels
From a quick review to the full build.
Starter
The review
4 days · 1 revision
Your existing model, read cell by cell, with notes pinned to the cells they refer to.
- Notes pinned to cells
- The month your cash runs out
- Each fix ranked, so you know where to start
Standard
The build
7 days · 2 revisions
We build it together. It runs for 36 months, from revenue and hiring to cash and runway, and each assumption gets a driver.
- 36-month model
- Revenue, costs, hiring, cash
- Runway and the month cash runs out
Advanced
The build, scenarios and cap table
12 days · 2 revisions
Everything in The build, plus three scenarios, valuation logic and a round-by-round cap table.
- Everything in The build
- Three scenarios
- Valuation logic
- Round-by-round cap table
A fixed fee for each level, confirmed in writing before anything starts. In the finished file, any number you click shows where it comes from, at every level.
How it works
Four steps. The fee comes before the work.
Send what you have
The model, if there is one, plus two lines on your business model, your stage and the round.
Get a written scope
Level, fee and delivery date within one working day, before any work starts.
The work
For a review, I read every sheet and pin notes to the cells. For a build, we agree the assumptions first.
Delivery
An editable spreadsheet you keep, with the notes or the new model.
Why Adaxit
Built to be read by an analyst, cell by cell.
Adaxit gets startups and SMEs ready for capital. The work covers the deck, the financial model, the valuation logic and the data room.
Done personally
Every model is built or reviewed by Cassio Thiengo, Adaxit’s founder, so only a few run at the same time. No juniors.
Italian and international rounds
An Italian seed round and a US-style SAFE round are read differently. The Advanced level models the one you’re running.
Honest fit
Is it for you?
It’s for you if
- You have a model you don’t fully trust, or none yet.
- You plan to raise pre-seed, seed or Series A in the next six months.
- You want every number to have a visible reason.
It’s not for you if
- You want the model to prove a number you’ve already decided on. A model shows what your assumptions imply.
- You need audited accounts or tax advice. We build planning models, not statutory accounts.
Questions
Before you send it.
Will you challenge my assumptions?
For each assumption I check that you can see it, that it agrees with the rest of the model and that it makes sense for your stage. You know your market best. The model lets a reader test what you know.
Should I start with the review or the build?
If you already have a model, the review comes first. It shows what’s broken before you pay for a rebuild. With none, take the 36-month build. Before negotiating terms, take the Advanced level.
Will the model give me a valuation?
The Advanced level sets out the valuation logic: how a number is reached and what it depends on. It can’t tell you what an investor will pay.
Can we sign an NDA first?
Yes. I’ll sign yours, or send a short mutual one, before you share a file. I work in English, Italian or Portuguese.
Your next step
Your cash has a last month. Know which one.
Each model is built or reviewed personally, so only a few run at the same time. Send what you have today and you’ll have a written scope, fee and delivery date within one working day.
Need the whole raise ready? See the fundraising sprintRequest your model
Tell me about the model and the round.
Sources: Dave Berkus, “The Berkus Method: Valuing an Early-Stage Investment”, November 2024 (his opinion: fewer than one in a thousand startups meet or exceed their projected revenues in the periods planned); a16z, “16 Startup Metrics”, updated September 2024 (letters of intent are neither revenue nor bookings); CRV, “Data room setup”, April 2026 (conflicting numbers kill deal momentum); Carta, time between rounds, February 2026 (median seed to Series A of 1.9 years in Q4 2025); Carta, 2026 Founder Ownership Report, March 2026 (median founding team keeps about 56% after seed, 36% at Series A); CB Insights, “The top 9 reasons startups fail”, March 2026 (running out of capital among the reasons in 70% of the VC-backed shutdowns analysed). The example company and its figures are fictional, and so is the 5% comparison.