Kodokyo Business Plan
AI-Native Project Operating System — replacing the Slack + Jira + Asana stack for remote-first teams.
February 2026 · Confidential
Section 1
Executive Summary
Kodokyo is an AI-native project operating system that unifies team communication, task management, and documentation into a single platform. It targets the $7.6B project management software market (growing at 13-16% CAGR) and the adjacent $20B+ collaboration market — both being reshaped by AI adoption and remote work consolidation.
The core insight is that Slack, Jira, and Asana treat “talking about work,” “tracking work,” and “documenting work” as three separate activities. Kodokyo merges them into a Living Document architecture where AI maintains project state, auto-drafts tasks from conversations, generates narrative status reports, and orchestrates handoffs between teams.
Built for companies with multiple teams serving multiple clients (agencies, consultancies, product companies), Kodokyo provides at-a-glance Client Hub dashboards, intelligent notifications, and a full communication platform (messaging, huddles, video) — replacing three subscriptions with one.
$7.6B
TAM (PM Software 2024)
~$20B+ including collaboration
13-16%
Market CAGR to 2030
AI-PM segment: 25-30%
$100+
Target ARPO
Per team/month (blended)
$20M
Year 5 ARR Target
Section 2
Market Opportunity
The project management software market is large, growing, and being reshaped by three macro trends: AI adoption, remote work, and tool consolidation.
$7.6B
PM Software Market (2024)
Grand View Research
$15.8B
Projected by 2030
~2x growth in 6 years
$2-3B
AI in PM Subsegment
Growing at 25-30% CAGR
Market Drivers
Remote & Hybrid Work
40% remote/hybrid40% of US knowledge workers are remote or hybrid. 60-70% of white-collar employers now offer flexible arrangements. Distributed teams need better async tools.
Tool Consolidation
130+ SaaS apps avgAverage enterprise uses 130+ SaaS apps. Companies are actively reducing sprawl — a platform that replaces 3 tools with 1 has a built-in business case.
AI Adoption Surge
72% AI adoption72% of organizations have adopted AI in at least one function. 65% use generative AI regularly, up from 33% just one year prior. AI features command a 20-30% pricing premium.
PM Tool Gap
50% untapped marketOnly 44-50% of organizations use dedicated PM software, yet 77% of high-performing organizations do. There is a massive greenfield market of teams that haven't yet adopted.
Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)
Our initial SAM targets companies with 10-500 employees that use at least 2 of the 3 tools we replace (Slack-type, Jira-type, Asana-type). Based on market data, this represents approximately 500,000 companies globally, with an average contract value of $2,000-10,000/year. SAM: ~$1-5B.
Section 3
Competitive Landscape
We compete against established players with significant revenue but bolt-on AI and fragmented experiences.
| Metric | Atlassian (Jira) | Asana | Monday.com | Slack | Kodokyo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Revenue | $4.36B (FY2024) | $652M (FY2024) | ~$970M (FY2024) | ~$2B+ (est.) | Pre-revenue |
| Revenue Growth | ~23% YoY | ~10-11% YoY | ~32-34% YoY | N/A (bundled) | — |
| Paying Customers | 300,000+ | ~150,000+ | ~225,000+ | ~169,000 (pre-acq) | — |
| Gross Margin | 82-84% | 89-90% | 88-90% | ~87% | Target: 85%+ |
| Net Retention | ~120%+ | ~100-105% | ~112% | N/A | Target: >110% |
| AI Approach | Bolt-on | Bolt-on | Bolt-on | Paid add-on ($10/u) | Native foundation |
| Communication | None | None | None | Core product | Full platform |
| Multi-team view | Weak | Basic (Portfolios) | Basic | Channels | Client Hub (unified) |
| Pricing (mid-tier) | $8-16/user/mo | $11-25/user/mo | $14-27/user/mo | $8.75-12.50/user/mo | $49-349/team/mo |
Competitive Advantage
Every competitor treats AI as a feature layer on top of existing architecture. Kodokyo is built AI-native from the ground up — the Living Document architecture gives the AI better data, context, and ability to act autonomously. Combined with unified communication, this creates a moat that bolt-on AI cannot replicate.
Section 4
Product Strategy
Ship a usable product fast, then layer intelligence on top. The phased roadmap balances ambition with focus.
Phase 1 — MVP
Months 1-3Usable PM tool for a 20-person agency managing 3-5 clients
Phase 2 — Intelligence
Months 4-6AI becomes a proactive teammate, not just a feature
Phase 3 — Scale
Months 7-9Enterprise readiness and external-facing features
Phase 4 — Enterprise
Months 10-12Enterprise sales readiness, compliance, and mobile
Section 5
Go-to-Market Strategy
Product-led growth (PLG) to land small teams, then expand into organizations with sales-assisted motions.
Phase 1: PLG (Months 1-12)
14-Day Free Trial
No credit card required. Team signs up, creates a project, and experiences the full AI suite in minutes. Ghost Tasks and narrative summaries are the 'aha moment.' No permanent free tier ensures every workspace covers AI costs from day one.
Content Marketing
Thought leadership on AI + PM, remote work best practices, template library. SEO-optimized for 'Slack alternative,' 'Jira alternative,' 'project management AI.'
Community Building
Discord/community for early adopters. Direct feedback loop with product team. Case studies from launch customers.
Agency/Consultancy Focus
Initial ICP: agencies with 10-50 people managing multiple clients. The Client Hub is the killer feature for this segment — nothing else shows all teams on one screen.
Phase 2: Sales-Assisted Expansion (Months 12-36)
Inside Sales Team
Hire SDRs and AEs to target mid-market (50-500 employees). Focus on companies already paying for Slack + Jira + Asana — the cost-savings pitch writes itself.
Partnerships
Agency network partnerships, technology consultancies, and Slack/Jira migration tools. Co-marketing with complementary tools (Figma, GitHub).
Phase 3: Enterprise (Months 36-60)
Field sales team targeting 500+ employee organizations. Enterprise features (SSO, compliance, data residency, custom AI training) unlock $100K+ ACV deals. Channel partnerships with system integrators.
Section 6
5-Year Financial Projections
Based on industry benchmarks, competitor data, and a conservative ramp following the T2D3 growth framework (Triple, Triple, Double, Double, Double).
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paying Teams (Orgs) | 50 | 200 | 800 | 2,000 | 5,000 |
| Avg Users per Org | 8 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Est. Total Users | 400 | 2,400 | 12,000 | 40,000 | 125,000 |
| Blended ARPO ($/org/mo) | $100 | $135 | $185 | $230 | $350 |
| Monthly Recurring Revenue | $5K | $27K | $148K | $460K | $1.75M |
| Annual Recurring Revenue | $60K | $324K | $1.78M | $5.52M | $21M |
| Revenue (recognized) | $30K | $185K | $1.05M | $3.5M | $14M |
| Infrastructure Costs | $10K | $42K | $180K | $520K | $1.2M |
| AI API Costs | $8K | $55K | $300K | $800K | $2M |
| Gross Profit | $12K | $88K | $570K | $2.18M | $10.8M |
| Gross Margin | 40% | 48% | 54% | 62% | 77% |
| Headcount | 3 | 8 | 18 | 35 | 60 |
| Personnel Costs | $360K | $960K | $2.34M | $4.9M | $8.7M |
| Marketing Spend | $24K | $120K | $480K | $1.2M | $2.4M |
| Total Operating Expenses | $402K | $1.18M | $3.3M | $7.42M | $14.3M |
| Net Income / (Loss) | ($372K) | ($1.0M) | ($2.18M) | ($2.74M) | ($300K) |
| Cash Burn (cumulative) | ($372K) | ($1.37M) | ($3.55M) | ($6.29M) | ($6.59M) |
Key Assumptions
- Revenue recognized reflects ramp within each year (teams acquired throughout the year don't pay for full 12 months)
- ARPO increases as the product moves upmarket — mix shifts from Starter ($49/mo) toward Growth ($149/mo) and Business ($349/mo) tiers over time
- Team-based pricing ensures a revenue floor per workspace that covers AI + infrastructure costs with 50-80%+ margins at every tier
- AI API costs managed via tiered model routing: Haiku for simple tasks (~$0.004/action), Sonnet for complex queries (~$0.02-0.05/action)
- No permanent free tier — 14-day free trial only — eliminates cost drag from non-paying workspaces
- Near-breakeven in Year 5, profitability in Year 6 as revenue growth compounds while cost structure stabilizes
Section 7
Unit Economics
Targeting healthy SaaS benchmarks from year one, with improving metrics as the product matures.
$600
CAC per Org (Yr 1)
PLG-driven, low-touch
$1,800
LTV per Org (Yr 1)
$100 ARPO × 18mo lifespan
3.0x
LTV:CAC Ratio
Above 3:1 healthy threshold
<15%
Annual Gross Churn
Target <10% by Year 3
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 3 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAC per Org (blended) | $600 | $1,200 | $2,000 |
| ARPO (monthly) | $100 | $185 | $350 |
| Org Lifetime (months) | 18 | 30 | 42 |
| LTV (per org) | $1,800 | $5,550 | $14,700 |
| LTV:CAC | 3.0x | 4.6x | 7.4x |
| Annual Gross Churn | 15% | 10% | 8% |
| Net Dollar Retention | 105% | 112% | 118% |
| Payback Period (months) | 6 | 6.5 | 5.7 |
CAC per org increases as we add sales-assisted motions targeting larger teams, but LTV grows faster due to higher ARPO (mix shift to Growth/Business tiers), longer retention, and seat expansion revenue. The LTV:CAC ratio improves from 3x to 7x+ as the product matures.
Section 8
Infrastructure & Technology Costs
Serverless-first architecture keeps costs proportional to usage. No step-function jumps until 10,000+ users.
| Service | MVP (~50 users) | 1K Users | 10K Users | 100K Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel (frontend) | $20/mo | $50/mo | $150/mo | $500/mo |
| GCP Cloud Run (backend) | $40/mo | $150/mo | $800/mo | $4K/mo |
| Neon Postgres | $69/mo | $150/mo | $500/mo | $2K/mo |
| Upstash Redis | $15/mo | $50/mo | $200/mo | $800/mo |
| Claude API (AI) | $200/mo | $1.5K/mo | $12K/mo | $80K/mo |
| LiveKit (voice/video) | $75/mo | $300/mo | $2K/mo | $15K/mo |
| Deepgram (transcription) | $35/mo | $200/mo | $1.5K/mo | $10K/mo |
| GCS + CDN | $10/mo | $50/mo | $300/mo | $2K/mo |
| Monitoring & tools | $15/mo | $100/mo | $400/mo | $1.5K/mo |
| Total Monthly | $479/mo | $2.55K/mo | $17.85K/mo | $115.8K/mo |
| Cost per User | $9.58 | $2.55 | $1.79 | $1.16 |
AI API costs (Claude) are the largest variable cost. Mitigation: tiered model routing (Haiku for simple tasks, Sonnet for complex), aggressive response caching (15-min TTL for status queries), and fine-tuned smaller models for routine tasks (Phase 3+). Target: reduce AI cost per user by 40% by Year 3.
Section 9
Team & Hiring Plan
Start lean with full-stack founders, scale hiring with revenue milestones.
| Role | Y1 (3) | Y2 (8) | Y3 (18) | Y4 (35) | Y5 (60) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering | 2 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 25 |
| Product / Design | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| AI / ML | — | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Sales / BD | — | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Marketing | — | — | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Customer Success | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Operations / Finance | — | — | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Average fully-loaded cost per employee: $120K (Year 1, mostly engineering) scaling to $145K (Year 5, blended across all roles). Remote-first team — no office overhead. Hiring gated to revenue milestones: no sales hires until $100K+ ARR, no marketing hires until $500K+ ARR.
Section 10
5-Year Milestone Roadmap
Year 1: Build & Launch
MVP live (Month 3)
First 10 paying customers (Month 6)
Phase 2 features shipped (Month 6)
$48K ARR by end of year
3-person team
Seed funding closed ($500K-1M)
Year 2: Product-Market Fit
200 paying orgs, 2,400 users
$317K ARR
Phase 3+4 features complete
Desktop app launched
First enterprise pilot
Series A raise ($3-5M)
Year 3: Growth Inflection
800 orgs, 12,000 users
$1.87M ARR
Inside sales team hired
First $100K+ ACV deal
SOC 2 Type II certified
International expansion begins
Year 4: Scale
2,000 orgs, 40,000 users
$6.72M ARR
Mobile apps launched
Channel partnerships live
Series B raise ($15-25M)
35-person team
Year 5: Market Position
4,500 orgs, 112,500 users
$20.25M ARR
Path to profitability within 12 months
Enterprise sales motion mature
Recognized as category leader in AI-native PM
60-person team
Section 11
Risk Analysis
AI hallucination in status reports
High ImpactMedium LikelihoodMitigation: Human-in-the-loop approval for material changes. Confidence scoring. Easy revert. Progressive autonomy levels.
LLM API costs exceed projections
High ImpactHigh LikelihoodMitigation: Tiered model routing (Haiku/Sonnet). Aggressive caching. Fine-tuned smaller models. Cost per user as a core metric.
Incumbents add AI-native features
High ImpactHigh LikelihoodMitigation: Our advantage is architectural (Living Document), not just AI features. Bolt-on AI on legacy architecture can't match integrated context.
Slow customer acquisition
High ImpactMedium LikelihoodMitigation: 14-day free trial reduces friction. Focus on one ICP (agencies) and nail it before expanding. Pivot GTM if PLG underperforms.
Real-time infrastructure scaling
Medium ImpactMedium LikelihoodMitigation: Serverless architecture (Cloud Run, Neon, Upstash) auto-scales. Load testing from Phase 1. No single points of failure.
Team retention in competitive market
Medium ImpactMedium LikelihoodMitigation: Remote-first. Equity compensation. Meaningful work on cutting-edge AI. Transparent culture.
Section 12
Funding Strategy
Raise enough to hit the next milestone, not more. Capital efficiency is a competitive advantage.
Pre-Seed / Bootstrap
Month 0Build MVP with founding team savings or small angel checks. 3-month runway.
Seed
Month 4-6$3-5M pre-moneyFirst 10 paying customers validated. Fund 12 months of operations + first 3 hires.
Series A
Month 18-24$15-25M pre-moneyPMF confirmed (>100 paying orgs, <10% monthly churn). Fund scale-up: sales team, Phase 3-4 features, marketing.
Series B
Month 36-48$75-125M pre-money$5M+ ARR with clear path to $20M+. Fund enterprise sales, international expansion, mobile, compliance.
Total Funding Required (5 years): $18.5M-31M
This assumes reaching cash-flow breakeven by late Year 5 / early Year 6 at ~$20M+ ARR with 73%+ gross margins. The cumulative cash burn of ~$8M through Year 5 is covered by the seed + Series A + Series B rounds with healthy runway cushion. If growth exceeds plan, later rounds can be raised at higher valuations with less dilution.