Capital Efficiency
The founding team is bootstrapping GradRoots as far as possible before raising institutional capital. This demonstrates our commitment to capital efficiency and our belief in the product's ability to generate revenue quickly.
Rather than focusing on runway, we are focused on building a sustainable business that can scale profitably with the right investment.
2026 Growth Plan
Revenue Target
$150K MRR
50 customers × $3K ARPU
Customer Acquisition
50 new customers onboarded in 2026
Targeting California Community Colleges and similar institutions with proven demand
Current State
With Investment
Team Compensation & Hiring Plan
Founder Compensation (Post-Investment)
Total founder compensation: $300K/year
Current Engineering Team (Raises)
Each current engineer receives +$1,000/month raise
Additional cost: $3K/month ($36K/year)
New Engineering Hires
Hire 5 additional engineers at $2,500/month each
Monthly Cost
$12.5K
5 engineers × $2,500/month
Annual cost: $150K/year
Total Team Expansion Cost
~$486K/year
Founder comp ($300K) + Engineer raises ($36K) + New hires ($150K)
Runway Model: $1M Investment
Investment Allocation
$1,000,000
Extends runway while scaling to profitability
Month 1-3
Monthly Burn
~$50K
Team ramp-up + hiring
Revenue
$10K MRR
Current customers
Net Burn
-$40K/month
Month 4-8
Monthly Burn
~$50K
Full team operational
Revenue
$60K MRR
20 customers onboarded
Net Burn
-$10K/month
Month 9-12
Monthly Burn
~$50K
Stable operations
Revenue
$150K MRR
50 customers (target hit)
Net Burn
+$100K/month
Cash Balance Over Time
Lowest Cash Point
$600K
Month 8-9
Cash Preserved
60%
At breakeven
Month 12 Cash
$900K+
Growing rapidly
Cash Flow Breakeven Timeline
Breakeven Month
Month 8-9
~35-40 customers at $3K ARPU
Cash Remaining at Breakeven
~$600K
60% of investment preserved
Total Cash Consumed to Breakeven
~$400K over 8-9 months (Month 1-3: $120K, Month 4-8: $280K)
Post-Breakeven Trajectory
After hitting 50 customers and $150K MRR, company generates $100K+/month positive cash flow with $600K+ still in the bank
Safety Margin
Even if customer acquisition takes 50% longer than projected, the $1M investment provides 18+ months of runway before needing additional capital
Key Insight
This is not a "burn and pray" model. We reach cash flow positive in 8-9 months while retaining 60% of invested capital as a safety buffer for continued growth and product development.
Detailed Financial Model
Investment Thesis
Capital efficiency is our competitive advantage. The founding team has built a working product, secured paying customers, and validated the market—all while bootstrapping.
Revenue Model & ARPU
We are targeting a $3,000/month ARPU per institution. With 50 customers, this translates to:
Base Case Revenue
$150K MRR
50 customers × $3K/month
This is the conservative baseline. Additional revenue streams create significant upside:
Token Arbitrage
AI-powered workflows create margin on token usage as we optimize model selection and prompt efficiency
Agentic Labor Model
Customers pay for autonomous agent work (outreach campaigns, donor research, data enrichment) at rates far below human labor costs
SaaS Agreements
Many institutions are signing annual contracts at $15K/year ($1,250/month), with larger institutions paying $3K-5K/month for premium tiers
Realistic Revenue Range
Conservative
$150K MRR
Base SaaS only
With Upside
$200K+ MRR
Including token arbitrage + agentic labor
With investment, we will scale customer acquisition to 50 institutions, build a world-class engineering team to accelerate product development, and unlock these additional revenue streams.
We are not asking for capital to figure out product-market fit. We are asking for capital to scale what already works.