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8 OF 12

Business

QUESTION 8

What are the economics?

The ask

Price, fully loaded delivery cost with human and inference lines named, the margin trajectory, and the napkin P&L at $1–2 million.

What you submit

01

Unit-economics sheet — price and fully loaded delivery cost, with human and inference lines named separately.

02

Margin trajectory — today's gross margin, the path to 70–80%, and the automation and model-price assumptions behind it.

03

The napkin P&L — default-alive at $1–2M revenue, including gross margin, cost to serve, and how far the check gets you.

04

12-month P&L model — what the business looks like in the 12 months after the $1M: monthly revenue build → contribution → fixed opex → EBITDA. Link out to the model (see the example below).

05

The $10M-EBITDA path — how many contracts or customers you need to get there, and whether there is a real path or a wall in year two.

Price

what customers pay

− Cost

human + inference

= Margin

today → destination

Great looks like:

Every number ties out: the automation ratio explains the margin trajectory, the simple market math feeds the napkin P&L, and the founder can defend every fully loaded cost line. Pricing is based on value and performance — if you win on speed and quality, you don't underprice it.

Risk

Margin cannot compound to software-like levels because of heavy human services or heavy unpriced inference.

Example · Aux Insights

Price: About $200K per month per project, with minimum 3× ROI committed before each engagement.

Costs: Engagement teams and a 300-plus contractor bench, with AI absorbing the analyst layer.

Missing: Gross margin and fully loaded delivery cost.

Go deeper

12-month demand & P&L model ↗

Example: the monthly build from the $1M — revenue, contribution, fixed opex, EBITDA.

Visit ↗

833 plan calculator

Price × clients × conversion becomes the revenue plan.

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Where's the demand?

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How does revenue compound?

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