# Pulley Financial Model

SaaS cap table management platform for hyper-growth startups, covering equity issuance, 409A valuations, scenario modeling, and compliance.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/pulley
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/pulley.xlsx
- Category: Enterprise/Security
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Series A
- Funding: $40M
- Founded: 2020
- Geography: US (implied by 409A, SEC compliance context).
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Pulley provides cap-table management for high-growth startups, covering equity issuance, 409A valuations, scenario modelling, and compliance. It gives founders and finance teams a software alternative to managing ownership changes through fragmented spreadsheets and advisors.

The product uses a freemium Startup tier to acquire customers, then monetises paid tiers on a per-stakeholder-per-month basis. 409A valuations provide a separate service attach, while a growing cap table creates a natural expansion driver.

The model combines free-to-paid conversion, customers, stakeholders, pricing tiers, renewal, and churn with a separate 409A attach-rate schedule. Support, valuation-delivery costs, gross margin, acquisition, product spending, and cash runway show the operating plan.

## 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

- Platform for companies, founders, employees, and investors to manage equity (cap table, option grants, 409A, scenario modeling, digital certificates, SAFE/convertible tracking).
- Differentiators: 15-minute onboarding (vs. weeks for incumbents); 5-day 409A (vs. ~1 month); self-serve UI; dedicated concierge support; 10x faster than competitors claimed.
- Lifecycle coverage: Inception → Raise → Hire → Build → IPO path.
- Features: cap table management, equity plan management, scenario modeling, digital certificates, investor/employee portals, ACH option exercising, Rule 701 analysis, custom reports, export to Excel.

## Market

- Private company cap table management market (SAM proxy): $2,300,000,000 total market size.
- Incumbent revenue (2019 proxy): Carta $100M (projected), Shareworks $120M - total $220M; incumbent market share only 9.57%; available market share 90.43%.
- Transfer agent market (longer-term TAM): $3,712M total - Computershare 40% / $1,480M, AST 25% / $926M, Others 35% / $1,296M.
- Expansion TAM references: Computershare comparable (~$10B company), First Republic Bank ($16B), Forge Global ($1B latest round), DocuSign ($10B).

## Revenue model

Tiered per-stakeholder SaaS subscription:

| Tier | Price | Notes |
| -- | -- | -- |
| Startup | Free (<20 stakeholders) | Freemium acquisition |
| Standard | $10 / stakeholder / month | Includes free 409A with annual contract |
| Growth | $20 / stakeholder / month | Adds accounting & compliance |
| Enterprise | Contact Sales | Transfer agent, Pre-IPO path, SSO, invoicing |

- Primary unit: number of stakeholders on the cap table (scales with company headcount and funding rounds).
- Secondary revenue stream implied: 409A valuations bundled at Standard tier (annual contract), potentially sold separately or with margin to third-party provider (slide 17 shows Aranca partnership for 409A delivery).
- Distribution: word-of-mouth / YC ecosystem; recommended cap table tool by Y Combinator.

## Traction & metrics

- 62% of the last YC Batch picked Pulley.
- Companies raising $20M+ are choosing Pulley.
- Named customers include Fast, HelixNano, Clubhouse, Namebase.
- Recommended cap table product by Y Combinator.
- No revenue figures, ARR, customer count, or MoM growth rates disclosed.

## Competition / moat

- Direct competitors: Carta (projected 2019 revenue $100M), Shareworks ($120M revenue).
- Transfer agent incumbents: Computershare, AST.
- Moat claims: YC recommendation + word-of-mouth network effects within YC batch ecosystem; speed advantage (onboarding + 409A turnaround); self-serve vs. high-touch incumbents; customer listening + 1-week feature shipping cadence.
- Feature parity claimed vs. incumbents at comparable or lower price.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Founders/team: Yin (CEO/Founder - sold Android Systems Application to MSFT, YC alum, Stanford CS), Mark (Sr Engineer, Docker/Crowdflower), Wil (Sr Engineer, Pebble, YC alum), Yoshio (Engineer, Radius Intelligence), Austin (Engineer, CZI, Stanford), Caitlyn (Designer, RSDI).
- Investors: Stripe, Y Combinator, 8VC, General Catalyst, Caffeinated Capital.

## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why:** SaaS ARR model with freemium-to-paid conversion funnel. Revenue is per-stakeholder/month across tiers - this is a seat/unit expansion model. The freemium Startup tier is the acquisition engine; conversion to Standard/Growth drives ARR. 409A can be modeled as a separate attach-rate revenue line. This is an operating startup, not an M&A or SPAC deck.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 3 years monthly (Year 1–2 monthly, Year 3 quarterly rollup). Cohort-based new customer additions, with stakeholder expansion within each customer.

- **Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value / Source |
| -- | -- |
| Standard tier price | $10 / stakeholder / month |
| Growth tier price | $20 / stakeholder / month |
| Enterprise tier price | $50–75 / stakeholder / month; contact-sales, estimated from market norms |
| Avg stakeholders per Standard/Growth company | 30–75; median startup has 20–50 option holders + founders + investors |
| Freemium-to-paid conversion rate | 15–25%; YC cohort capture rate is high (62% of batch) but most are pre-revenue/seed |
| YC batch size as addressable pipeline | ~200 companies/batch, 2 batches/year; 62% pick Pulley = ~248 new logos/year from YC alone |
| Broader market new company formation | US startup formation ~50,000+/year; Pulley targeting fast-growth; assume 5,000 TAM/year |
| Monthly churn (gross logo) | 1.5–3%; cap table software is sticky (switching cost high - all historical equity records) |
| Net revenue retention | 110–120%; stakeholder count grows as companies hire and raise |
| 409A attach rate (Standard annual) | 60% of annual Standard customers take 409A bundle |
| 409A revenue per valuation | $1,500–$3,000; Aranca partnership suggests cost-plus or bundled margin |
| Gross margin | 70–80%; low COGS (cloud infra + 409A third-party cost); support-heavy model compresses early margin |
| S&M as % of revenue (early) | 40–60%; word-of-mouth dominant but sales headcount needed for Growth/Enterprise tier |
| R&D as % of revenue | 30–40%; 6-person engineering-heavy team |
| G&A as % of revenue | 10–15% |

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
  - Bear: lower YC batch penetration (40%), higher churn (3%), slow enterprise upsell, no 409A attach
  - Base: 62% YC batch, 1.5% churn, moderate stakeholder expansion, 60% 409A attach
  - Bull: YC penetration expands beyond YC to broader VC-backed market, NRR >120%, early enterprise wins, 409A at premium pricing

- **Required sheets / outputs:**
  1. Assumptions - all drivers with toggle for scenario
  2. Customer cohort model - new logos by month, tier mix, avg stakeholders, MRR per cohort
  3. ARR bridge - new ARR, expansion ARR, churned ARR, net new ARR
  4. Revenue build - Standard + Growth + Enterprise subscription + 409A fees
  5. P&L - Revenue → Gross Profit → EBITDA (with S&M, R&D, G&A)
  6. Headcount plan (engineering-heavy)
  7. Cash / runway (no raise size in deck; use as scenario input)
  8. KPI dashboard - ARR, MRR, logo count, avg stakeholders/customer, NRR, CAC payback

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Pulley financial model free?

Yes. The Pulley 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.