FIFirework Financial Model
Consumer/DTC Startup Financials (Free Excel Download)
B2B SaaS platform enabling brands and publishers to embed short-form and live shoppable video on their owned-and-operated websites.
professionals from Deloitte
Used by professionals from
About this model
Firework is a B2B SaaS platform for embedding short-form and live shoppable video on brand, retailer, and publisher websites. It brings social-style video experiences to owned web properties rather than relying on walled-garden platforms.
The company had streamed 84 billion seconds of video in 36 countries in 2021, with livestream minutes growing rapidly. Brands pay for software that powers video creation, distribution, engagement, and commerce on their own digital surfaces.
The model is usage-informed SaaS ARR. Customers, video experiences, streamed minutes, platform fees, enterprise contracts, expansion, and churn build revenue. Video delivery cost, sales efficiency, product adoption, and NRR drive margin.
A turnkey financial model
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
About Firework
How to build a detailed financial model for Firework
A complete walkthrough of the business, drivers, and assumptions behind the downloadable Firework model - distilled from its pitch deck and publicly available information.
Product & value proposition
Firework is an end-to-end SaaS solution that lets brands and retailers embed short vertical video ("Stories") and live-shopping streams directly on their own websites - bypassing walled-garden platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook). Key differentiators:
- Brings short video and livestream capabilities to the open/mobile web, which has 0% penetration today vs. ~70% on walled gardens.
- 350M active blogs, publishers, online stores, and business sites; ~250BN monthly visits; 97% of transactions happen on the open web.
- Shoppable video: add-to-cart embedded directly in the video experience.
- Positioned as B2B SaaS vs. TikTok/Instagram (B2C, ad-funded, centralized).
Market
China live shopping market (proxy for global opportunity):
- 2020 live shopping sales: $161B
- 2021 live shopping sales: $299B
- 2022 projected live shopping sales: $470B+
- ~86% YoY growth 2020→2021; implied ~57% growth 2021→2022
Open web addressable universe:
- 350M active blogs, publishers, online stores, and business sites
- ~250BN monthly visits
- 97% of transactions happen on the open web (not walled gardens)
No explicit US TAM/SAM/SOM breakdown in deck.
Revenue model
- B2B SaaS: sell software platform to brands, retailers, and publishers
- Customers embed Firework's video widgets on their own sites
- Revenue model described as "SaaS" explicitly
- No pricing tiers, contract values, ARR, or per-seat/per-stream pricing disclosed in deck
Traction & metrics
- 84,000,000,000 seconds streamed in 2021 across 36 countries
- 15x quarterly growth in livestream minutes over the 18 months from 2020 Q1 through 2022 Q1
- Growth chart (slide 9): bars show near-zero in 2020 Q1, steep step-up through 2020 Q4, a slight plateau in 2021 Q1–Q2, then sharp re-acceleration to new highs in 2021 Q3–Q4 and peak at 2022 Q1
- 75% of US adults spend up to 2 hours/day watching short-form video
- No ARR, MRR, customer count, logo count, or revenue figures disclosed
Unit economics
Customer-side lift metrics (Firework's reported effect on client KPIs):
- 400% engagement lift (session time per user)
- 3.0x conversion (add-to-cart rate)
- 3.0x retention / lifetime value for social consumers vs. non-social consumers
No Firework-level CAC, LTV, gross margin, or payback period disclosed.
Competition / moat
- Direct comparison: Firework (B2B, SaaS, de-centralized, open web) vs. TikTok / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook (B2C, ads, centralized, walled gardens)
- Positioned alongside Shopify and Amazon as an open-web commerce infrastructure play
- Moat claim: only platform bringing shoppable short video + livestream natively to the open web (0% current penetration = greenfield)
- No IP, exclusivity, or network-effect moat articulated explicitly
Team & funding ask / use of funds
Recommended financial model
- Archetype + why: B2B SaaS ARR model. Firework sells a recurring software subscription to brands/retailers; the correct model is a cohort-based ARR build with new logo additions, expansion/contraction, and churn - the standard SaaS operating model. A GMV-facilitated metric (video-driven add-to-cart GMV) can be a secondary KPI driver if pricing is GMV-linked, but the deck identifies the revenue model as SaaS, not take-rate.
- Forecast horizon & granularity: 3 years (Y1–Y3) quarterly, then annual summary. Quarterly matters because the growth chart shows clear quarterly inflections worth modeling.
- Key drivers & assumptions:
| Driver | Value |
|---|---|
| Starting ARR | Unknown |
| New logo additions per quarter | Unknown |
| Average contract value (ACV) | Unknown |
| Logo churn rate (annual) | Unknown |
| Net revenue retention (NRR) | Unknown |
| Livestream minutes quarterly growth | 15x over 18 months (2020 Q1→2022 Q1) |
| Gross margin | Unknown |
| S&M as % of revenue | Unknown |
| R&D as % of revenue | Unknown |
| G&A as % of revenue | Unknown |
| Countries / geographies | 36 in 2021 |
| China live commerce TAM 2022 | $470B+ |
- Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
- Bull: NRR 125%+, logo growth accelerates, ACV expansion into enterprise tiers, gross margin reaches 75% at scale
- Base: NRR 115%, steady logo adds, ACV mid-range, gross margin 68%
- Bear: Elevated churn (15%+), slower logo acquisition, margin pressure from streaming infra costs, NRR <105%
- Required sheets / outputs:
- Assumptions - all inputs in one place, flagged vs
- ARR Bridge - New ARR, Expansion ARR, Churned ARR, Net New ARR per quarter
- P&L - Revenue, COGS, Gross Profit, S&M, R&D, G&A, EBITDA
- Headcount - by function (Sales, CS, Eng, G&A), driving opex
- Cash / Runway - cash burn, implied runway (critical given no funding ask in deck)
- KPI Dashboard - ARR, NRR, logo count, CAC payback (once inputs populated), livestream minutes (engagement proxy)
- Scenario toggle - Base / Bull / Bear
Frequently asked
Is the Firework financial model free?+
Yes. The Firework model is a free Excel (.xlsx) download with live formulas. Sign up with your email and the workbook is yours to keep, review, and edit.
What's included in the model?+
A 5-year monthly forecast with P&L, cash flow and runway, valuation (exit multiple plus a DCF cross-check), MOIC/IRR returns, and unit economics, with live formulas throughout.
How was this model built?+
It was built from Firework's pitch deck and publicly available information, then structured to investment-banking standards as a fully editable Excel model.
Can I change the assumptions?+
Yes. You can change assumptions and the live formulas will recalculate in the downloadable Excel model.
Have more financial modelling questions? Contact us
Created by ex-finance professionals
Hey, I’m Alex and I created Finamodel.
Over my years in the finance industry I kept building the same models over and over again. Same structure, same assumptions, different logo. So I started building frameworks to turn them into clean, reusable templates.
Every model here is one I’d actually use for a client, and I personally vet each one before it goes up.
I’m not an expert in every industry, but I’ve built enough models to know what belongs in one. And when something is completely foreign to me, I reach out to my network for experts to work on our models with us.
Having a template library on hand cuts a first build from hours to minutes.
Need help finding your model? You’ll find me in the Finamodel app!
Other Consumer/DTC Startup Financial Models
Browse another startup in the same category.
Accel Club
Accel Club acquires Amazon third-party (FBA) seller businesses at 3–4x EV/EBITDA and scales them through operational integration, then exits at higher consumer/D2C multiples.
Afrocenchix
D2C brand selling natural, vegan-certified hair-care products for afro and curly hair.
Amperity
Enterprise Customer Data Platform (CDP) that unifies first-, second-, and third-party customer data across siloed systems to power personalization, analytics, and marketing activation.
AnyRoad
Enterprise SaaS platform for managing, measuring, and optimising branded experiential marketing.
Attentive
B2B SMS / mobile marketing SaaS for e-commerce and retail brands.
Aura
All-in-one consumer "intelligent safety" subscription replacing fragmented point solutions for identity, device, WiFi, social, assets, and privacy protection.
Belgian Boys
Belgian-inspired premium specialty food brand selling cookies, refrigerated cheesecakes, frozen waffles/crepes, and snacks through US retail and DTC channels.
Bespoken Spirits
Technology company that replaces barrel aging with a proprietary ACTivation process to produce premium, customizable spirits in days rather than decades.
