# Storyboard Financial Model

Enterprise audio platform for secure internal communications - internal podcasts and audio messages for employees.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/storyboard
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/storyboard.xlsx
- Category: Enterprise/Security
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Seed
- Funding: $4.5M
- Founded: 2021
- Geography: Global [DECK slide 1].
- Customer: B2C

## About the company

Storyboard is a secure enterprise audio platform for internal podcasts and employee messages. It gives organisations a dedicated channel for distributing audio communications, rather than treating employee engagement as a sequence of static written announcements.

The company sells communications software to organisations that can extend usage across employee populations and internal programmes. Its deck describes more than 1,700 organisational customers and a global market, supporting a subscription model with expansion tied to broader internal deployment.

The model uses enterprise-logo additions, employees covered, pricing, expansion, and renewal as recurring-revenue drivers. Delivery costs, sales capacity, customer success, gross margin, product investment, and overhead then show the operating plan and cash runway.

## 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

Storyboard is a collaborative platform for enterprises to share secure, encrypted audio messages with employees. Two content modes:
- **Internal Podcasts**: planned/produced content (town halls, exec updates, training); large audience (company-wide or business unit); weekly/biweekly cadence.
- **Audio Messages**: short in-the-moment recordings, transcribed, shareable into colleague feeds; small teams / 1:1.

Distribution: mobile app (iOS/Android) and web. Audio is encrypted and can be streamed or played offline. Employees receive a curated org-specific feed - no public discovery layer.

Core use cases: Internal Comms (town halls, executive messaging), Training & Onboarding (on-demand enablement), Team-specific comms (replacing meetings), Deskless Worker communications.

## Revenue model

Per-seat subscription model. Exact pricing not disclosed in deck.
- Sold to enterprises (inbound and outbound B2B).
- Expansion revenue within existing accounts is explicitly highlighted as a growth lever.

## Traction & metrics

- 1,700+ organizations globally.
- Named customers include: Schneider Electric, DHL, Abbott, HelloFresh, Delta, USG, Diageo, Blattner Energy.
- Net paid seats grew consistently from December (year prior) through December (following year) - approximately 12 months of growth shown. Chart shows a clear upward trend with acceleration in the back half; no Y-axis values are labeled - exact seat counts not readable.
- Growth is driven by both new account acquisition and expansion within existing accounts within six months of launch.

## Competition / moat

Not explicitly named. Moat implied by:
- Enterprise security (encrypted audio, org-specific feeds, no public discovery).
- Network effects within organizations (shared feed, colleagues' posts).
- Timing/category creation - deck positions Storyboard as defining "internal audio" before incumbents (Slack, Teams) build it.

## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why**: B2B SaaS ARR model. Revenue is seat-based subscription, sold to enterprise accounts, with a clear expansion motion within accounts. This maps cleanly to a seats × price × net revenue retention (NRR) driver structure.
- **Forecast horizon & granularity**: 3 years (monthly Year 1, quarterly Years 2–3). Monthly granularity in Year 1 to reflect the growth trajectory shown in the deck.
- **Key drivers & assumptions**:
  - Starting paid seat count: ~5,000–10,000 seats - chart shows ~12 months of growth reaching a material level for 1,700+ orgs; average org size unknown; use 5 seats/org as conservative floor → ~8,500 seats.
  - Average seats per account at close: 10–50 depending on segment (SMB vs. enterprise).
  - Seat price (ARPU): $8–$15/user/month - typical enterprise internal comms SaaS; exact pricing not in deck.
  - New logo growth (new accounts/month): 50–100/month based on 1,700 orgs achieved over ~12 months.
  - Net Revenue Retention (NRR): 110–120% - deck explicitly calls out strong expansion within 6 months; NRR above 100% is the key bull-case assumption.
  - Gross margin: 70–80% - SaaS audio/streaming; hosting/CDN costs are the primary COGS variable.
  - CAC: $2,000–$5,000 per account - not in deck; B2B SMB/mid-market benchmark.
  - Payback period: 12–18 months.
- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex)**:
  - Base: NRR = 115%, new logos = 60/month, ARPU = $10/seat/month.
  - Bull: NRR = 125%, new logos = 100/month, ARPU = $12/seat/month (upsell to premium tiers).
  - Bear: NRR = 100% (no expansion), new logos = 30/month, ARPU = $8/seat/month (pricing pressure).
- **Required sheets / outputs**:
  - Assumptions sheet (all drivers, toggleable scenarios).
  - ARR bridge (new ARR, expansion ARR, churn, net new ARR).
  - P&L (revenue, COGS → gross profit, S&M, R&D, G&A → EBITDA).
  - Seat cohort table (monthly cohorts, expansion curve, churn).
  - Cash / runway (if funding ask is added).
  - Dashboard: ARR, seats, NRR, gross margin, CAC payback.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Storyboard financial model free?

Yes. The Storyboard 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.