Calculate how many months of runway your startup has left. Enter cash balance and monthly burn rate to see runway in months, breakeven point, and what-if scenarios for cutting burn or adding revenue.
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Net burn = monthly burn − monthly revenue. Runway in months = cash / net burn (simple division for the base case; month-by-month simulation when revenue growth is entered). The conservative scenario adds 20% to burn (unexpected costs, hiring delays); the optimistic scenario cuts burn by 20% (cost savings or efficiency gains). Breakeven is found by simulating month-by-month revenue compounding until revenue ≥ burn.
Gross burn is all cash outflows: salaries, rent, infrastructure, software, contractors, marketing. Net burn subtracts revenue. For fundraising conversations, investors want gross burn — it shows the actual cost structure of the business regardless of how much revenue you're generating today.
Only if the invoices are very likely to be collected soon. Unpaid invoices are not cash. Use only the cash actually sitting in your bank accounts and liquid money market funds. Overestimating available cash is one of the most dangerous mistakes early-stage founders make.
Seed and Series A rounds typically take 3–6 months from first pitch to cash in bank. This is why the 18-month runway rule exists — with 18 months, you can afford a 6-month raise process and still have 12 months to operate if you close later than expected.
Three levers in order of typical impact: (1) cut fixed costs — headcount is usually 60–70% of burn; (2) accelerate revenue — prepaid annual contracts, pricing increases, upsells; (3) defer costs — negotiate net-60 with vendors, delay non-critical hires. Revenue extension is preferable to cost cutting when you have product-market fit.