# Almost Friday Financial Model Almost Friday is a multi-platform comedy/lifestyle media brand built around the "Friday Beers" universe, monetising through apparel, brand partnerships, events, podcasts, and music. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/almost-friday - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/almost-friday.xlsx - Category: Media/Gaming - Model type: Marketplace / GMV - Funding round: Seed - Funding: $6M - Founded: 2022 - Geography: US-centric (events mentioned in Atlantic City; audience data not geo-broken down). [DECK] - Customer: B2B2C ## About the company Almost Friday is a comedy and lifestyle media ecosystem built around the Friday Beers universe. Its community targets 18–34-year-old weekend warriors through more than ten Instagram accounts, TikTok, podcasts, original music, live shows, and an apparel storefront. The business has several distinct revenue legs: direct-to-consumer apparel, brand sponsorships embedded in social and podcast content, ticketed events, podcast advertising, and music royalties. It had more than 80,000 apparel customers and scheduled more than ten 2022 events, including a Borgata Atlantic City residency. Audience scale supports the commercial case: the network reported 3.1 million-plus followers, 31.2 million weekly Instagram impressions, and 37 million TikTok views in the prior 30 days. A useful model separates merchandise, sponsorship, event, and podcast economics while keeping music royalties immaterial. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition Almost Friday operates a hub-and-spoke media ecosystem under the "Friday Beers" and "Almost Friday" brand umbrella. Spokes: - Instagram: 10+ accounts (@friday.beers, @almost.friday, @commence.suckdown, @dr.locks.md, @countryclubadjacent, @djpressplay, @empty.netters, @entrapranure) - TikTok: @almostfriday.tv, @countryclubadjacent - Twitter: @friday_beers - Podcasts: Friday Beers Podcast, Country Club Adjacent, Welcome to Friday - Music: original music + curated playlists - Events: live shows / residencies - Apparel: e-commerce storefront Value proposition: Comedy brand targeting 18–34 male "weekend warriors" at the intersection of humor, lifestyle, and unwind culture - positioned as the modern National Lampoon. Community-first, not an audience-first strategy. ## Revenue model Revenue streams implied by the ecosystem slide: 1. **Apparel (e-commerce)** - direct-to-consumer; 80k+ existing customers. Pricing not shown. 2. **Brand sponsorships / integrations** - embedded across social accounts and podcasts. Deal terms not disclosed. 3. **Live events** - ticket/venue revenue; 10+ events scheduled for 2022 including Borgata Atlantic City residency. 4. **Podcast advertising** - three active shows; CPM/download data not shown. 5. **Music streaming royalties** - 3M+ streams; likely immaterial relative to other streams. No pricing tiers, take rates, or revenue splits shown. ## Traction & metrics All figures from slides 1–2: | Metric | Value | Source | | -- | -- | -- | | Total followers, all platforms | 3.1M+ | Slide 2 | | Instagram followers (10+ accounts) | 2.1M+ | Slide 2 | | Instagram accounts reached/week | 21.5M | Slide 2 | | Instagram impressions/week | 31.2M | Slide 2 | | Instagram avg engagement rate | 11%+ | Slide 2 | | TikTok followers (4+ accounts) | 700k+ | Slide 2 | | TikTok total likes | 22M+ | Slide 2 | | TikTok views (last 30 days) | 37M+ | Slide 2 | | Music streams (original) | 3M+ | Slide 1 | | Playlist followers | 150k+ | Slide 1 | | Apparel customer base | 80k+ | Slide 1 | | Events scheduled for 2022 | 10+ | Slide 1 | | Audience: male | 79% | Slide 2 | | Audience: age 18–34 | 85.3% | Slide 2 | No revenue, GMV, AOV, retention, or MoM growth figures shown. ## Competition / moat Not explicitly in deck. Moat is implied via slide 3: - Proprietary characters, storylines, and cultural IP ("Commence Suckdown™", "Consumption Vortex™", "Sneaky Bender™", etc.) built over multiple years. - Community vs. audience framing - harder to replicate organic belonging. - Multi-format distribution reduces platform concentration risk. No named competitors presented. ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Creator/media holding company P&L - three distinct revenue legs (e-commerce, sponsorships, events) each with different margin profiles. Think DTC brand P&L layered with a media/advertising revenue schedule and an events P&L. A single 3-statement model is appropriate to tie it together; a pure SaaS or marketplace model does not fit. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 3 years monthly (Y1–Y2) then annual (Y3); monthly needed to capture event seasonality and apparel launch timing. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** - *Apparel* - Active customer base starting point: 80k; growth rate ~20% YoY - typical for brand-led DTC at this stage - Average order value ~$55 - mid-market lifestyle apparel benchmark - Purchase frequency ~1.3x/year - light repeat for lifestyle merch - COGS margin ~45% - consistent with print/apparel dropship model - *Brand sponsorships / integrations* - Total addressable impressions: 31.2M/week on Instagram alone - Sponsorship CPM ~$10–$20 - creator/influencer mid-market range - Number of brand deals/month 2–4 across accounts and podcasts - Deal value range $10k–$75k depending on channel and exclusivity - *Events* - 10+ events in 2022; growth cadence +5 events/year - Avg ticket revenue per event $25k - small-to-mid venue residency - Gross margin on events ~40% after venue, talent, production - *Podcasts* - Download counts not in deck; 50k–150k downloads/month across 3 shows - sized relative to 700k TikTok + 2.1M IG following - Podcast CPM $20–$30 host-read - Ad slots per episode 2 - *Music* - Streaming royalties immaterial (<$10k/year at 3M streams); model as zero or rounding - *Headcount / OpEx* - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - *Base:* Apparel +20% customer growth, 2 brand deals/month at avg $25k, 10 events/year flat - *Bull:* Major brand partnership signed (e.g., beer/spirits co-brand), apparel launches paid media, event count 2x, podcast downloads 2x - *Bear:* Algorithm change hits IG/TikTok reach, apparel repeat rate falls, events limited to 5/year, sponsorship CPMs compress - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. Assumptions dashboard (all tagged drivers in one place) 2. Apparel revenue schedule (customers × AOV × freq, COGS, gross profit) 3. Sponsorship/brand deal revenue schedule (deals × avg value, quarterly) 4. Events P&L (events × ticket rev, direct costs, gross profit) 5. Podcast ad revenue schedule 6. Consolidated P&L (IS): revenue by stream, gross profit, OpEx, EBITDA 7. Summary KPIs: total followers trend, revenue per follower, EBITDA margin 8. Scenario toggle (Base / Bull / Bear) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Almost Friday financial model free? Yes. The Almost Friday model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.