Since last update on May 26, 2026
StartupLenz is a living calculator. The defaults under every model, marketplace fees, materials costs, channel mix percentages, evolve as the markets do. Here’s the trail.
Every meaningful change, in order
Live time-since-update counter on /pulse
The Data Pulse page now leads with an animated days/hours/minutes counter showing exactly how long since the last meaningful update. It eases up from zero on page load and refreshes silently while you read, a quiet visual proof that the calculator isn't a static spreadsheet.
State-aware defaults for house flipping
The house-flipping calculator now pre-fills property tax, insurance, realtor commission, median home value, and typical holding time based on the state you select. Tax burden alone swings 7x between Hawaii and New Jersey, so flipping economics that pretend otherwise are misleading. Seeded with 50-state data from Tax Foundation, Insurance Information Institute, NAR, and Zillow.
First default-value recalibration
Updated commodity-driven defaults to better reflect 2026 reality: candle materials, hand-pour labor minutes, slime ad spend, house-flipping holding costs, and cleaning supplies all bumped. Sourced from a critical audit of national operator ranges; flagged because the previous defaults trended low across the board.
Slime Brand vertical shipped
Added the slime-brand model engine with TikTok Shop fees, temperature-pack costs, and drop-based selling cadence. 18 inputs, channel-aware split across TikTok Shop, Etsy, and own-site.
Direct-sales channel for handmade brands
The handmade-craft model can now split revenue across Etsy, TikTok Shop, AND your own site. The own-site channel uses standard card-processing (2.9%) baked in, so founders don't forget that cost.
Help-text tooltips on every input
Every slider across all 10 verticals now has industry context attached. Hover the ? icon to see what the input means and what realistic ranges look like for that business.
House Flipping vertical shipped
Added the house-flipping model engine: ARV, rehab cost, hard-money rates, holding costs, agent commissions, the works.
Cleaning Service vertical shipped
Recurring-revenue cleaning service model: per-clean pricing, route density, subcontractor labor split, insurance + supplies, and customer churn.
Multi-lever Goal Seek
The Goal Seek panel now solves across multiple sliders at once. Pick up to 3 levers in priority order; it tries each in turn until your target lands.
TikTok Shop fee refresh
Updated TikTok Shop transaction-fee defaults to reflect the platform's revised structure. Affects slime, handmade-craft, candle, and reseller verticals.
StartupLenz v1 launched
First 7 verticals, channel-aware revenue math, growth trajectory model, written-take insight engine. The kitchen-table spreadsheet officially became a tool.
Curious how we keep it current?
The full methodology — how each vertical’s model is built, where the data comes from, and what we deliberately don’t model — is on the how-it-works page.