# Equals Financial Model

Equals is a cloud-based spreadsheet built for business analysis - with native database/SaaS connections, versioning, and team collaboration baked in.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/equals
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/equals.xlsx
- Category: Dev Tools
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Seed
- Funding: $5.5M
- Founded: 2022
- Geography: Not specified in deck; HQ implied US (Intercom backgrounds of founders suggest US/Ireland influence, but no explicit geography stated).
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Equals is a spreadsheet platform for operational teams that combines familiar spreadsheet workflows with connected data, collaboration, and live analysis. It aims to replace static exports and manual reporting with a more capable, cloud-native workspace for business users.

The company sells annual and monthly subscriptions and explicitly tracks new ARR, canceled ARR, customer churn, and ARR churn. Its sales motion combines product-led distribution through useful spreadsheet content with direct sales for larger customers.

The model is a standard SaaS ARR waterfall. New customers, contract value, expansion, cancellations, and churn create ending ARR, with customer cohorts used to monitor retention. Product-led leads, sales capacity, gross margin, onboarding, and net retention determine the pace of recurring growth.

## 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

Two founding pillars:
1. **Data connections** - native SQL editor, connections to databases (BigQuery, MySQL, Postgres, Redshift, Snowflake) and SaaS sources (Stripe, Salesforce, QuickBooks, Plaid), query builder, scheduled/versioned queries, import scripts.
2. **Team workflows** - collaborative viewing and editing, "Git model" for changes (versioning), shared queries and formulas, Trace (get to source of a number), scheduled updates.

Cloud-based, sign-up-and-go, targeted subset of Excel functionality. Positioned as the only spreadsheet with built-in connections to any database, versioning, and collaboration.

Mission: "Replace Excel for analysis". Earlier seed deck stated "Empower businesses to make good decisions".

## Revenue model

Not explicitly stated in deck. Implied SaaS subscription (ARR metric used throughout; MRR referenced in data deck churn table). Sales motion: inside sales with a demo-driven funnel (Website → Lead → Demo → Customer funnel tracked). Head of Sales hired.

## Traction & metrics

All chart values in the data deck (series-a slides 16–22) are intentionally blurred/redacted - axes and series labels are visible but no specific numbers can be read from the images.

Qualitative traction statements:
- Public launch: June 2022.
- First sneak peek of product: April 2022.
- Data deck dated September 2022 - roughly 3–5 months post-launch.
- Slide 17 headline: "We've grown to ARR since our first sneak peek of the product in April."
- Slide 22 headline: "Gross New ARR is accelerating, retention is strong." Churn table structure shows Customer Churn and Gross MRR Churn tracked weekly from ~04/11/2022 through 08/29/2022.
- Paid customers active ~3 days/week (DAU/WAU and DAU/MAU tracked).
- Top-of-funnel (website traffic, leads, demos) consistently growing.
- Funnel conversion rates (visit→lead, lead→demo, demo→customer) tracked weekly by cohort.
- Notion team uses Equals for Revenue Recognition reporting and ARR build; "active every workday in August".
- Primary buyer personas: Founders, early Finance, CTOs.
- Connected datasources tracked: BigQuery, Import scripts, MySQL, Plaid, Postgres, QuickBooks, Redshift, Salesforce, Snowflake, Stripe.

## Competition / moat

Moat articulated around two dimensions:
- **Verticalization**: unlike Excel/Sheets (too horizontal), Equals targets the analysis use case specifically.
- **Integration depth**: native data connections that alternatives either lack or treat as an add-on; "Git model" versioning is a true differentiator vs. all spreadsheet tools.
- **Network / stickiness**: team workflows, shared queries, scheduled reports make it sticky at the org level (not just individual user).

Named competitors dismissed: Excel, Google Sheets, Looker, Tableau, Mode, Hex, Deepnote, Causal, Chartio, Jupyter, Sisense, Coda, Notion, Airtable, Smartsheets.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

**Founders**:
- Bobby Pinero (CEO/Co-founder) - Intercom exec team, scaled Intercom from $1M to $180M+ ARR; led FP&A, Accounting, Biz Ops, Analytics, Data Engineering, Legal over 7 years.
- Ben McRedmond (CPO/Co-founder) - First employee at Intercom; led Growth from $1M to $50M ARR; founded Consider (email startup, 2017–2020).

**Team (Series A deck)**: ~11 people including Head of Engineering, 2 founding engineers, 2 software engineers, founding designer, Head of Sales, SDR, Biz Ops.

**Seed ask**: ~$4M to fund initial team for 24 months, build V1, demonstrate PMF with small number of paying users.

**Series A ask**: ~$15M.
- GTM: scale Sales, Marketing, Success to 22 HC; accelerate content and product launches; explore new channels.
- R&D: 3× engineering team size in next 18 months to 22 HC.

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## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why**: SaaS ARR model. Equals tracks ARR, MRR, customer count, and churn - all canonical SaaS metrics. Revenue is subscription-based (implied), with a demo-driven inside-sales funnel. A standard SaaS ARR waterfall (new ARR, expansion, churn, net new ARR → total ARR → MRR → revenue) is the right frame.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity**: Monthly, 3 years (36 months). Month 1 = ~October 2022 (post-Series A close). Year 1 monthly detail; Years 2–3 can be quarterly summary with monthly drivers.

- **Key drivers & assumptions**:
  - **Starting ARR**: - redacted; open question (see §Data gaps).
  - **Starting customer count**: - redacted; open question.
  - **New customer additions per month**: - ramp from current run-rate; driven by top-of-funnel (website visits → leads → demos → closes). Model as a funnel with conversion rates at each stage.
  - **Visit-to-lead conversion rate**: tracked but value redacted; ~2–5% typical for PLG/sales-assist SaaS.
  - **Lead-to-demo conversion rate**: tracked but value redacted; ~20–30%.
  - **Demo-to-customer conversion rate**: tracked but value redacted; ~25–40%.
  - **Gross MRR churn rate**: tracked monthly from April–August 2022; values redacted; <5%/month (slide claims "retention is strong").
  - **Net Revenue Retention**: ~100–115% (B2B analytics tools with expansion from more users/seats); no expansion ARR data in deck.
  - **Gross margin**: ~70–80% (cloud infra + support costs for SaaS at this stage).
  - **GTM headcount ramp**: scale to 22 GTM HC post-Series A [series-a slide 14]; ramp over 12–18 months from current ~2–3 sales HC.
  - **R&D headcount**: 3× in 18 months to 22 HC [series-a slide 14]; current ~7 eng/design HC → 22 by month 18.
  - **Average fully-loaded cost per HC**: ~$150K–$180K/year blended (US SaaS, mix of eng and sales).
  - **Series A proceeds**: ~$15M [series-a slide 14]; deployed over 18–24 months per stated plan.
  - **Burn / runway**: derive from headcount + infra + G&A spend model; target 18–24 months runway.

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex)**:
  - **Base**: Funnel grows at current trajectory; conversion rates stable; churn <3%/month; ACV at midpoint assumption; 22 HC each in GTM and R&D by month 18.
  - **Bull**: Faster top-of-funnel (viral PLG loop kicks in via Excel-importer and templates on roadmap [series-a slide 12]); churn <1.5%/month; ACV expansion as enterprise penetration grows; NRR >120%.
  - **Bear**: Sales cycles lengthen (macro 2022–2023 slowdown); new customer adds slow to 50% of base; churn ticks up to 4–5%/month; ACV at low end; runway shortens to <18 months.

- **Required sheets / outputs**:
  1. **Assumptions** - all drivers in one place, toggle for scenario.
  2. **Funnel Model** - weekly/monthly website visits → leads → demos → new customers.
  3. **ARR Waterfall** - new ARR, churned ARR, net new ARR, cumulative ARR; customer count build.
  4. **P&L** - Revenue (MRR×12 or monthly), COGS (infra, support), Gross Profit, S&M (GTM HC + marketing), R&D (eng HC), G&A; EBITDA; net burn.
  5. **Headcount Plan** - by department (GTM, R&D, G&A), monthly hire ramp, fully-loaded cost.
  6. **Cash / Runway** - opening cash ($15M Series A), monthly burn, months of runway.
  7. **KPI Dashboard** - ARR, MRR, customers, MoM growth, gross churn, NRR, CAC payback (once ACV known), DAU/WAU.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Equals financial model free?

Yes. The Equals 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.