A working 36-month operating model for a fictional membership publication with quarterly field days. Every company record, price and assumption is synthetic. Scenarios illustrate tradeoffs; they are not forecasts for a real company or financial advice.
Open the scenario board. The four signature controls run entirely in your browser. JSON and CSV export buttons create browser downloads; no export server, account or API is required. The confirmation names the file and offers Download again. Changing the plan clears that confirmation.
For a downloaded site copy, run this command from the directory containing this README:
python3 -m http.server 43110 --bind 127.0.0.1
Then open http://127.0.0.1:43110/. Opening HTML with a file:// URL will not load the model data; use a static server. Only start one preview server.
| Deliverable | Contents |
|---|---|
| Editable operating model | 18 sheets, 36 months, cohorts, revenue, delivery, staffing, cash, scenarios and sensitivities |
| Board memo PDF | Five pages with three decisions, evidence, risks and revisit triggers |
| Editable memo | The same narrative in Word format |
| Board briefing | Seven slides with editable text and four native charts |
| Source archive | Raw and clean synthetic inputs, model, independent Python ledger and artifact-authoring source |
| Calculation verification | Results of the independent model and workbook audit |
The Office/PDF artifacts are unchanged from the reviewed board pack. The static edition changes browser export delivery and packaging. The source ZIP excludes machine-specific runtime scripts, local server code and browser session records. It preserves an outputs/ directory; Office files and visual renders are delivered separately.
| Time | Action and narration |
|---|---|
| 0–10 s | Open the XLSX Board tab. “Northstar is fictional, but this is a working 36-month model. The base case reaches 6,923 members; the cash trough is only $26,348 above the reserve.” |
| 10–25 s | Click Double acquisition. “Growth rises to 9,552 members. Minimum cash falls to $52,831, below the $150,000 reserve. The recommendation changes.” |
| 25–38 s | Click Lower churn to 2.6%. “At the original acquisition budget, ending cash improves by $274,781. This is a sensitivity, not evidence that a retention program will cause it.” |
| 38–48 s | Download assumptions and monthly CSV. “The JSON maps the controls to exact workbook cells. Cohorts, delivery, hiring and deferred revenue connect to cash.” |
| 48–60 s | Click Reset plan, then open memo page 1 or briefing slide 7. “Stage acquisition, test retention, and review cash before hiring.” |
The yellow controls are on Assumptions: B4 selects case 1/2/3; B5 multiplies that case's acquisition budget; B6 shifts monthly churn; B7 shifts annual renewal. Reset to 1, 1, 0%, 0%. The browser's budget slider shows an absolute percentage of the base launch budget; the JSON download converts it to the correct workbook multiplier. Blue assumption cells are editable; formula cells remain formulas.
The browser and workbook use equivalent equations but do not automatically synchronize. Transfer the four controls explicitly. Memo and presentation are static snapshots and need regeneration and editorial review after an assumption change.
The reviewed workbook has 46,213 cached formulas, zero error cells and no external workbook links. Independent Python passed 5,028 numeric comparisons, with a maximum difference of 1.688e-9 against a 0.00001 tolerance. All five memo pages and seven exported slides were inspected. The slide charts contain 262 values checked against the same independent ledger. Static browser download checks are documented in the local publishing handoff.
All money is USD, pretax. Annual memberships collect $240 upfront and recognize $20 per month. Annual renewals occur at contract anniversaries. Event deposits and vendor prepayments precede delivery. Cash, deferred revenue, prepaids and equity have separate opening and closing balances. Recurring expenses are separate from setup and onboarding.
Annual price $240, 12-month annual contracts and the 36-month horizon are fixed structural conventions. The model omits taxes, debt, interest, capex, distributions, refunds, receivable/payable delays, layoffs and statistical uncertainty. Hires persist and event capacity is fixed. Negative cash is an unfunded requirement. “36 funded months” only means no shortfall inside this forecast.
Scenarios have no probabilities. Retention sensitivity is not evidence of program causality. Microsoft Office desktop applications were not manually operated; the bundled artifact engines, independent calculations and rendered output were checked. Mobile review used viewport emulation.
# LAUNCHPAD / Northstar Field Notes A working 36-month operating model for a **fictional** membership publication with quarterly field days. Every company record, price and assumption is synthetic. Scenarios illustrate tradeoffs; they are not forecasts for a real company or financial advice. ## Open the board Open [the scenario board](board/). The four signature controls run entirely in your browser. JSON and CSV export buttons create browser downloads; no export server, account or API is required. The confirmation names the file and offers **Download again**. Changing the plan clears that confirmation. For a downloaded site copy, run this command from the directory containing this README: ```sh python3 -m http.server 43110 --bind 127.0.0.1 ``` Then open `http://127.0.0.1:43110/`. Opening HTML with a `file://` URL will not load the model data; use a static server. Only start one preview server. ## The board pack | Deliverable | Contents | | --- | --- | | [Editable operating model](Northstar-Operating-Model.xlsx) | 18 sheets, 36 months, cohorts, revenue, delivery, staffing, cash, scenarios and sensitivities | | [Board memo PDF](Northstar-Board-Memo.pdf) | Five pages with three decisions, evidence, risks and revisit triggers | | [Editable memo](Northstar-Board-Memo.docx) | The same narrative in Word format | | [Board briefing](Northstar-Board-Briefing.pptx) | Seven slides with editable text and four native charts | | [Source archive](Northstar-Source-Pack.zip) | Raw and clean synthetic inputs, model, independent Python ledger and artifact-authoring source | | [Calculation verification](qa/calculation-verification.json) | Results of the independent model and workbook audit | The Office/PDF artifacts are unchanged from the reviewed board pack. The static edition changes browser export delivery and packaging. The source ZIP excludes machine-specific runtime scripts, local server code and browser session records. It preserves an `outputs/` directory; Office files and visual renders are delivered separately. ## A 60-second demonstration | Time | Action and narration | | --- | --- | | 0–10 s | Open the XLSX **Board** tab. “Northstar is fictional, but this is a working 36-month model. The base case reaches 6,923 members; the cash trough is only $26,348 above the reserve.” | | 10–25 s | Click **Double acquisition**. “Growth rises to 9,552 members. Minimum cash falls to $52,831, below the $150,000 reserve. The recommendation changes.” | | 25–38 s | Click **Lower churn to 2.6%**. “At the original acquisition budget, ending cash improves by $274,781. This is a sensitivity, not evidence that a retention program will cause it.” | | 38–48 s | Download assumptions and monthly CSV. “The JSON maps the controls to exact workbook cells. Cohorts, delivery, hiring and deferred revenue connect to cash.” | | 48–60 s | Click **Reset plan**, then open memo page 1 or briefing slide 7. “Stage acquisition, test retention, and review cash before hiring.” | ## Use the workbook The yellow controls are on **Assumptions**: B4 selects case 1/2/3; B5 multiplies that case's acquisition budget; B6 shifts monthly churn; B7 shifts annual renewal. Reset to **1, 1, 0%, 0%**. The browser's budget slider shows an absolute percentage of the base launch budget; the JSON download converts it to the correct workbook multiplier. Blue assumption cells are editable; formula cells remain formulas. The browser and workbook use equivalent equations but do not automatically synchronize. Transfer the four controls explicitly. Memo and presentation are static snapshots and need regeneration and editorial review after an assumption change. ## Verification and limits The reviewed workbook has **46,213 cached formulas**, zero error cells and no external workbook links. Independent Python passed **5,028 numeric comparisons**, with a maximum difference of 1.688e-9 against a 0.00001 tolerance. All five memo pages and seven exported slides were inspected. The slide charts contain 262 values checked against the same independent ledger. Static browser download checks are documented in the local publishing handoff. All money is USD, pretax. Annual memberships collect $240 upfront and recognize $20 per month. Annual renewals occur at contract anniversaries. Event deposits and vendor prepayments precede delivery. Cash, deferred revenue, prepaids and equity have separate opening and closing balances. Recurring expenses are separate from setup and onboarding. Annual price $240, 12-month annual contracts and the 36-month horizon are fixed structural conventions. The model omits taxes, debt, interest, capex, distributions, refunds, receivable/payable delays, layoffs and statistical uncertainty. Hires persist and event capacity is fixed. Negative cash is an unfunded requirement. “36 funded months” only means no shortfall inside this forecast. Scenarios have no probabilities. Retention sensitivity is not evidence of program causality. Microsoft Office desktop applications were not manually operated; the bundled artifact engines, independent calculations and rendered output were checked. Mobile review used viewport emulation.