| Role | Person | Status | Annual Salary | 18-Mo Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO / CCO | Neelan | Active | $120,000 | $180,000 | Carries more creative output without a dedicated writer. Key constraint. |
| CTO | TBD | In Convo | $165,000 | $247,500 | Leaner ENGMA spec. Hands-on build; bottleneck risk in Phase 2. |
| COO | TBD | To Hire | $130,000 | $195,000 | Absorbs ops/admin — no support role at this size. |
| Engineer | TBD | To Hire | $145,000 | $217,500 | Solo engineer. CTO-led. Consider contractor backup by Month 9. |
| Designer | TBD | To Hire | $90,000 | $135,000 | Visual identity, character visuals, LoRA reference work. |
| Engineer #2 | — | Cut | $140,000 | $210,000 | Deferred to Series A. |
| Creative — Writer | — | Cut | $90,000 | $135,000 | CEO absorbs. Biggest creative risk in this model. |
| Ops / Admin | — | Cut | $65,000 | $97,500 | COO absorbs. Workable early, tight by Phase 2. |
| Salaries Subtotal (18 months) | ~$650K/yr | $975,000 | |||
| Payroll Burden — Taxes + Benefits (~33%) | ~$322,000 | FICA, health, 401k — standard NYC employer costs. | |||
| Total Team Cost (Fully Loaded) | ~$1,297,000 | ||||
| Category | % | Total (18 mo) | Monthly Avg | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud & Infrastructure | 13% | $325,000 | $18,056 | Leaner ENGMA spec. Fewer parallel agent pods. |
| Contractors & Specialists | 7% | $175,000 | $9,722 | Slightly higher % — compensates for missing writer role. |
| Marketing & Growth | 6% | $150,000 | $8,333 | Americana audience growth, ORB launch. Trimmed. |
| Legal & IP Protection | 4% | $100,000 | $5,556 | Same needs, slightly trimmed timeline. |
| Software & Tools | 2% | $50,000 | $2,778 | Reduced stack at smaller team size. |
| Travel & Events | 2% | $50,000 | $2,778 | NYC base keeps this low. |
| Operational Cushion | 6% | $150,000 | $8,333 | ~13 weeks of buffer at lean burn. |
| Non-Payroll Subtotal | ~40% | $1,000,000 | $55,556 | |
| + Team & Payroll | ~52% | $1,297,000 | $72,056 | |
| Total 18-Month Spend | ~92% | $2,297,000 | ~$127,600/mo | ~$203K buffer vs $2.5M raise |
| Stream | Activates | Low | High | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions ($5/mo) | Month 10 | $180,000 | $480,000 | Smaller team = slower content volume. |
| Engine Licensing (Dots) | Month 9 | $200,000 | $600,000 | Leaner ENGMA still licensable. |
| IP Licensing (XYZ) | Month 12+ | $100,000 | $400,000 | Books, film, TV. Longer sales cycle. |
| Advertising | Month 13+ | $50,000 | $250,000 | ORB platform ads + character sponsorships. |
| Digital Assets | Month 15+ | $30,000 | $150,000 | Later phase. Lower ceiling at this size. |
| Projected 18-Mo Revenue | $560,000 | $1,880,000 | ||
| Total Spend | $2,297,000 | $2,297,000 | ||
| Net Cash at Month 18 (incl. raise) | +$763,000 | +$2,083,000 | ||
At $2.5M raise, the $14M pre-money from Scenario A is aggressive. A $9–10M pre-money is more defensible and investor-friendly — still a strong story, and leaves room to grow into the $14M+ valuation at Series A with traction data.
The lore depth on pax.nulus.co is one of the most compelling things about this project. Losing a dedicated writer puts it on the CEO — real creative bandwidth risk as Americana scales toward 100 personas. Consider a part-time contractor budget here.
Phase 1 is manageable with CTO + one engineer. By Phase 2, when the subscription platform, ENGMA v1, and Dots client pilots need simultaneous attention — this gets tight fast. Budget for a contractor engineer by month 9 if traction allows.
Scenario B matches the ask to the proof. You have a live product, a built universe, and a founder story. That's a $2.5M angel-led seed — not a $3.5M institutional tech round. Raise this, prove it, then come back bigger.