# WorkLife 1 Financial Model Work Life is a micro venture fund investing in future-of-work / bottom-up SaaS companies at Seed and Series A. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/worklife-1 - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/worklife-1.xlsx - Category: Enterprise/Security - Model type: VC Fund Waterfall - Funding round: Fund 1 - Funding: $10M - Founded: 2019 - Geography: US (Bay Area), global portfolio ## About the company WorkLife 1 is a micro venture fund investing in future-of-work and bottom-up SaaS businesses at Seed and Series A. It is a GP fundraising presentation, not an operating startup plan. The fund's value proposition rests on specialist sourcing and support for companies shaping how teams work. Management fees support the GP, while carry and LP outcomes depend on portfolio appreciation and exits. The model builds a venture-fund J-curve from commitments, calls, investments, reserves, fees, exits, and carry. It reports DPI, TVPI, RVPI, gross and net IRR, with sensitivities for ownership and exit timing. ## 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 GP thesis: "consumerization of the enterprise" / bottom-up SaaS (BYOT - Bring Your Own Tool). Three investment themes: 1. Workplace software adopted bottom-up by individuals → teams (e.g. Webflow, Voiceflow) 2. Reimagined work opportunities - talent networks and creator tools (e.g. Substack, Cameo, Anchor) 3. Brand/community-driven software where social signals drive enterprise purchasing (e.g. Superhuman, Figma) Differentiation: GP has a proprietary deal-flow funnel via SaaS School (invite-only accelerator, 200+ applicants/batch, 40 companies accepted) and a personal brand with 20K+ Twitter followers, 3M monthly impressions. ## Market - Bottom-up SaaS market validation cited: Zoom IPO opened 81% higher; Slack IPO valued at $24B+ - No numeric market-size figures stated. ## Revenue model VC fund economics: - Management fee: 2% per annum on committed capital - Carried interest: 20% of profits above hurdle - LPs receive co-investment rights in follow-on opportunities - ~40% of deal flow sourced from SaaS School pipeline ## Traction & metrics - Fund I oversubscribed at $5M cap - 30 investments planned over 24 months - SaaS School: 200+ applications per batch, 40 accepted per cohort - Twitter: 20K+ followers, 3M monthly impressions - Prior angel portfolio: 10 companies shown (Voiceflow, Webflow, Work OS, Forethought, Lunchclub, Girlboss, Voyage, Dev.to, Relationship Hero, AirGarage) co-invested alongside a16z, Accel, True Ventures, Lightspeed, Floodgate, Founders Fund, YC - Dev.to traction cited: 2M unique visitors/month - Notable SaaS School alumni: Loom (Series A, Kleiner Perkins), Webflow (Series A, Accel), Superhuman (Series A → Series B, a16z) ## Unit economics - Check size: $50K–$150K per deal - At $3M fund target, 30 investments → avg $100K/deal (mid-range of stated check size) - Management fee: 2% × $3M–$5M = $60K–$100K p.a. - No portfolio IRR, TVPI, DPI, or loss-ratio data shown. ## Competition / moat Moat framing (GP's stated advantages): 1. Curated deal flow via SaaS School network 2. First-to-market positioning as a micro-fund specifically focused on next-gen workplace SaaS 3. Portfolio network effects: shared learnings, partner integrations, co-selling - Named as a top angel investor by Business Insider alongside Ellen Pao and Cyan Banister - No direct competitive funds named. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - GP / sole operator: Brianne Kimmel (ex-Zendesk GTM, Village Global Network Leader, angel investor) - Fund size: $3M target, $5M hard cap - Investment period: 18–24 months - LP roster (slide 2): Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Garry Tan, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, InVision CEO Clark Valberg, executives from Dropbox and Slack - Use of funds: deploy $50–150K per deal into ~30 Seed/Series A future-of-work companies - No explicit management fee budget breakdown or fund expenses shown. --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** VC Fund Economics model. This is not an operating company - it is a GP raising a blind-pool fund. The appropriate model is a venture fund J-curve / cash-flow model covering capital deployment, management fee income, portfolio construction, and carried interest waterfall. A 3-statement operating model is not applicable. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 10-year fund life (standard VC); quarterly granularity for deployment and distributions, annual for summary P&L and LP returns. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** - Fund size: $3M target / $5M cap; model at $3M base, $5M bull - Number of investments: 30 - Check size range: $50K–$150K, average ~$100K; model average = $100K - Investment period: 18–24 months - Management fee: 2% p.a. on committed capital - Carried interest: 20% above hurdle; hurdle rate = 8% (standard US VC) - Reserve ratio (follow-on vs. initial): 0% - deck implies no reserve allocation given small fund size; flag as open question - SaaS School sourced deals: ~40% of portfolio - Vintage: 2019 based on deck references - Fund life: 10 years (standard); 2-year extension option - Deployment pace: ratable over 18–24 months, then harvest - Portfolio construction: 30 companies; no SAFE/note vs. equity split stated - Gross MOIC by scenario - : - Bear: 1.5× (majority markdowns, 1–2 breakouts) - Base: 2.5× (3–4 breakouts at 20–50× on small checks) - Bull: 4.0× (1 unicorn exit + several 10× names given deal quality signals) - Loss rate: ~40% of portfolio written to zero (early-stage norm) - Time to liquidity: avg 6–8 years from first investment; distributions from year 5+ - GP commit: 1% of fund (standard); not stated in deck - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - Flex: fund size ($3M / $4M / $5M), gross MOIC (1.5× / 2.5× / 4.0×), number of winning exits (1 / 3 / 5), average exit multiple on winners - Fixed: fee structure (2/20), check size, investment period - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions** - fund size, check size, # investments, fees, hurdle, MOIC by scenario 2. **Deployment Schedule** - quarterly capital calls, investment pace, cumulative deployed 3. **Portfolio Construction** - company-level table (30 rows): initial check, reserve (if any), entry stage, expected exit stage, assumed multiple 4. **Management Fee P&L** - annual fee income vs. fund expenses (GP salary, legal, admin); net GP economics 5. **J-Curve / Cash Flow** - LP capital calls (negative), distributions (positive), net cash flow by year 6. **Carried Interest Waterfall** - return of capital → hurdle → catch-up → 80/20 split; by scenario 7. **LP Returns Summary** - gross MOIC, net MOIC, gross IRR, net IRR by scenario 8. **Dashboard** - KPI cards: fund size, # investments, avg check, projected net MOIC, net IRR; J-curve chart; portfolio construction pie ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the WorkLife 1 financial model free? Yes. The WorkLife 1 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.