Knak Financial Model
Enterprise/Security Startup Financials (Free Excel Download)
Drag-and-drop campaign creation platform (emails & landing pages) built for enterprise marketing teams to use in-house, eliminating agency dependency.
professionals from Deloitte
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About this model
Knak lets enterprise marketing teams create emails and landing pages through a drag-and-drop platform. It is positioned as a way to bring campaign production in-house, reducing dependency on agencies while maintaining brand and workflow control.
The company sells enterprise MarTech subscriptions, where customers can start with one team or workflow and expand as more marketers and campaigns use the product. The economic comparison is against recurring agency spend rather than a one-time design project.
The model tracks new logos, ACV, expansion ARR, gross and net retention, and contribution margin by cohort. Sales capacity, implementation, customer success, gross margin, and operating expenses determine the investment required to scale the enterprise land-and-expand motion.
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 Knak
knak.com
How to build a detailed financial model for Knak
A complete walkthrough of the business, drivers, and assumptions behind the downloadable Knak model - distilled from its pitch deck and publicly available information.
Product & value proposition
- Codeless drag-and-drop builder for enterprise marketing emails and landing pages
- Integrates with all major marketing automation platforms (Marketo, Eloqua, HubSpot, etc.) - platform-agnostic
- Brand control enforced at the asset-creation level; no coding or outside agency required
- Claims up to 95% faster time-to-market vs. agency-led creation
- Collaboration features (@ mentions, review workflows visible in product screenshot)
Market
- Marketing automation market: $15.6B in 2019 → $25.1B by 2023 (CAGR ~12.7%)
- Agency email creation cost per email: $1K–$75K - used as proxy for addressable spend displaced
- No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM framework presented; market framing is top-down via automation market size + agency cost displacement
Revenue model
- SaaS subscription - enterprise seat/usage-based
- Sold direct to enterprise marketing teams
- Channel: likely direct sales + inbound
- No pricing tiers, ACV, or ARPU disclosed in deck
Traction & metrics
- Self-described "fast-growing"
- External funding to date: $0 (bootstrapped)
- Product-market fit claimed; "reliable data" on spend impact
- No revenue, ARR, customer count, NRR, churn, or growth rate figures presented in deck
Competition / moat
- Indirect competition: legacy marketing automation platforms (Marketo, Eloqua, etc.) described as "decades old, templated, rigid"
- Direct competition: agencies (framed as the incumbent workflow to replace, not a software competitor)
- Moat claims: codeless platform, MAP-agnostic integrations, enterprise brand governance, built-in collaboration
- No competitive matrix or named software competitors shown
Team & funding ask / use of funds
- Pierce Ujjainwalla - Co-Founder & CEO; serial entrepreneur, 4x Marketo Champion, consulted IBM, Microsoft, NVIDIA, SAP
- Brendan Farnand - Co-Founder & COO; career enterprise marketer, led global MAP implementation at Trend Micro
- Patrick Proulx - Co-Founder & CTO; career full-stack developer, multi-startup tech founder
- Chris Davies - Chief Creative Officer; career marketer and agency creative director
- Ask: $25M USD
- Use of funds: new headcount, marketing, new office, war chest
- No valuation, ownership %, or term sheet details disclosed
Recommended financial model
Archetype + why: SaaS ARR model (enterprise, land-and-expand). Knak is a pure B2B SaaS subscription displacing agency spend; the right model tracks new logos, ACV, expansion ARR, gross/net retention, and contribution margins by cohort. No transactional or marketplace dynamics present.
Forecast horizon & granularity: 5 years (Year 0 actuals stub + Years 1–5), quarterly in Years 1–2, annual in Years 3–5. Monthly not warranted given no monthly data in deck.
Key drivers & assumptions:
| Driver | Value |
|---|---|
| Starting ARR | Unknown - use $X as placeholder |
| New logo adds per quarter (Y1) | 8–15 enterprise logos/qtr |
| Average Contract Value (ACV) | $50K–$150K/yr |
| Logo growth rate (Y1→Y3) | 30–50% YoY |
| Net Revenue Retention (NRR) | 110–120% |
| Gross margin | 70–80% |
| S&M as % of revenue (Y1–Y2) | 40–55% |
| R&D as % of revenue (Y1–Y2) | 20–30% |
| G&A as % of revenue (Y1–Y2) | 10–15% |
| Headcount ramp | Significant Y1 |
| Marketing automation market CAGR | ~12.7% (2019–2023) |
Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
- Base: 12 new logos/qtr Y1, $80K ACV, 115% NRR, 75% gross margin
- Bull: faster logo ramp (20/qtr by Y2), $120K ACV via upsell, 125% NRR
- Bear: sales cycle elongation (8 logos/qtr), $50K ACV, 105% NRR, margin pressure from office/headcount
Required sheets / outputs:
- Assumptions - all drivers, toggle for scenarios
- Revenue Build - new logos × ACV + expansion (cohort waterfall)
- P&L - ARR → Revenue → Gross Profit → EBITDA by year
- Headcount Plan - linked to S&M/R&D/G&A opex
- Cash & Runway - burn rate post-raise, months of runway, breakeven year
- KPI Dashboard - ARR, logo count, NRR, CAC payback, LTV/CAC, Rule of 40
Frequently asked
Is the Knak financial model free?+
Yes. The Knak 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 Knak'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.
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