Chapter 10 of 12

Appendices: Templates and Checklists

Regulatory checklists, pre-mortem templates, and scorecards.

Playbook Chapters
What You'll Learn Checklists, templates, and scorecards you can use right away for compliance, risk, and unit economics.

Appendix A: Compliance Checklist

Check these before you build:

2026 Startup Checklist

Data Privacy

  • Can users delete their data?
  • Can you store data in the EU if needed?
  • Do users consent before you collect data?

AI Rules

  • Know your AI risk level under EU rules?
  • Can you mark AI outputs as AI-made?
  • Can humans review AI decisions?

Legal

  • Terms of service cover AI liability?
  • Who owns AI-created content?
  • Do you have rights to training data?

Your Industry

  • Know your industry's rules?
  • Need any licenses?
  • Need any insurance?

Appendix B: Pre-Mortem Template

Run this with your team. Have everyone imagine the company failed—then figure out why.

The Prompt

"It is 2028. We are bankrupt. Why?"

Common failure modes to consider:

Financial Failures
  • Ran out of cash (burn rate too high)
  • Couldn't raise next round
  • Unit economics never worked
  • Revenue plateau; couldn't grow
Team Failures
  • Founder dispute over equity/direction
  • Key person left with critical knowledge
  • Couldn't hire fast enough
  • Culture became toxic
External Failures
  • Sued for IP/copyright infringement
  • Regulation changed; became illegal
  • Key API/platform deprecated
  • Macroeconomic collapse
Competitive Failures
  • Big Tech gave it away for free
  • Better-funded competitor out-executed
  • Market consolidated; we got squeezed
  • Technology obsoleted by breakthrough

Appendix C: Health Check Scorecard

Check if your numbers are healthy, risky, or critical:

Metric Healthy Warning Critical
Customer Value vs. Cost > 3:1 1:1 - 3:1 < 1:1
Months to Recover Costs < 12 months 12-18 months > 18 months
Gross Margin > 70% 50-70% < 50%
Monthly Churn < 2% 2-5% > 5%
Revenue Retention > 120% 100-120% < 100%
Burn Efficiency < 1.5x 1.5-2.5x > 2.5x
How to Use This

Check your numbers against each row. Multiple warnings need work. Any critical result must be fixed before you build your MVP.

Appendix D: AI Cost Benchmarks (2026)

Model Tier Input Cost (per 1M tokens) Output Cost (per 1M tokens) Best Use Case
Economy $0.10 - $0.25 $0.25 - $0.50 Classification, simple extraction
Standard $0.50 - $2.00 $1.50 - $6.00 General chat, summarization
Premium $3.00 - $15.00 $10.00 - $60.00 Complex reasoning, coding
Frontier $15.00 - $75.00 $60.00 - $150.00 Research, advanced analysis

What You Walk Away With

  • Regulatory Checklist: Ready-to-use compliance assessment.
  • Pre-Mortem Template: Framework for surfacing hidden risks with your team.
  • Unit Economics Scorecard: Quick assessment of financial health.
  • AI Cost Benchmarks: Reference prices for 2026 inference costs.
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Works Cited & Recommended Reading
Unit Economics & Financial Modeling
SaaS Metrics & Benchmarks
  • 7. SaaS Trends 2025-2026: 25 Definitive Trends Shaping the Industry. Modall
  • 8. The Great SaaS Price Surge of 2025: A Comprehensive Breakdown. SaaStr
  • 9. SaaS gross margin explained: What it is, and why it's important. Stripe
  • 10. SaaS Gross Margin Benchmarks and How To Increase Yours. Lighter Capital
  • 11. 2025 SaaS Churn Rate: Benchmarks, Formulas and Calculator. Vena Solutions
  • 12. How to Compare CAC Benchmarks by Industry. Phoenix Strategy Group
  • 13. How I Calculate the CAC Payback Period. The SaaS CFO
  • 14. The Rule Of 40: How To Calculate And Use It For SaaS. CloudZero
Pricing Strategy & Research
  • 15. What Is A Hybrid Revenue Model? Definition, Types, Benefits. Marketplacer
  • 16. How To Use The Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter. SurveyMonkey
  • 17. How To Price Your Product: Van Westendorp Pricing Model. Forbes
  • 18. Van Westendorp Price Optimization Using LimeSurvey. LimeSurvey
  • 19. Using Conjoint Analysis for Pricing Research. Qualtrics
  • 20. Understanding Conjoint Analysis in Market Research. LimeSurvey
AI Costs & Unit Economics
  • 21. AI Pricing: How Much Does AI Cost in 2025? Monetizely
  • 22. The Best Cheapest AI Inference Services of 2025. SiliconFlow
  • 23. Welcome to LLMflation - LLM inference cost is going down fast. Andreessen Horowitz
  • 24. Avoiding The Looming AI Unit Economics Crisis. Moreland Connect
  • 25. Beyond Benchmarks: The Economics of AI Inference. arXiv
Burn Rate & Cash Management
  • 26. What is burn rate? What startups need to know. Stripe
  • 27. The Bill Gurley Chronicles: VCs, Marketplaces, and Early-Stage Investing. Macro Ops
Feasibility & Risk Assessment
  • 29. AI Project Feasibility Checker. LaSoft
  • 30. Technical Feasibility Study & Risk Assessment Framework. Incurvo
  • 31. Startup feasibility: How to know if my startup idea is good. Business Model Hacking
  • 32. Startup Evaluation Checklist: Essential Investment Criteria. Qubit Capital
  • 33. What Is a Risk Matrix? [+Template]. Atlassian
  • 34. How to Run Pre-Mortem Exercises [Templates Included]. Atlassian
Regulatory & Compliance
  • 35. EU AI Act Compliance Checker. EU AI Act
  • 36. President Trump Signs EO to Stop State Regulation of AI. Ogletree
  • 37. Executive Order Limiting State Power to Regulate AI. K&L Gates
  • 38. How 2025 state legislative sessions grew the AI patchwork. Engine
  • 39. CCPA Requirements 2026: Complete Compliance Guide. Secure Privacy
Templates & Frameworks

Note: Some links may contain affiliate referrals. We only recommend resources we genuinely find valuable for startup founders.

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