Who This Helps
You're a founder operator. Revenue is up but cash is flat. You need to diagnose a KPI drop fast, without getting lost in data. This is for you.
Mini Case
Meet Ben. His revenue grew 12% last month, but cash stayed flat. He used the Founder Finance Basics Mission Pack to run a quick unit economics check. He found his CAC payback period jumped from 7 days to 14 days. That was the root cause. One focused session saved him from a cash crisis.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Open your unit economics snapshot. Pull your last 3 months of revenue, cost of goods sold, and customer acquisition cost. Write them down.
- Calculate your CAC payback period. Divide total sales and marketing spend by number of new customers. Then divide that by your gross profit per customer. If it's over 12 months, you have a problem.
- Check your runway forecast. Look at your cash balance and monthly burn rate. Divide cash by burn to get months of runway. If it's under 6 months, you need to act.
- Run a pricing scenario guardrail. Test a 10% price increase. What happens to volume? If demand drops less than 10%, you win.
- Write a one-page decision memo. Summarize your findings. Include the KPI drop, root cause, and one action to fix it. Share with your team.
Avoid These Traps
- Don't guess. Use real numbers, not gut feelings. One wrong assumption can lead to a bad decision.
- Don't ignore cash. Revenue is vanity, cash is sanity. A KPI drop in cash is more urgent than a dip in top-line growth.
- Don't overcomplicate. You don't need a full financial model. A one-page unit economics truth is enough.
- Don't wait. A 7-day delay in diagnosing a cash flow problem can cost you 3 months of runway.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have pinpointed the root cause of your KPI drop. You'll know if it's a pricing issue, a CAC problem, or a runway crunch. You'll have a one-page decision memo ready to share. That's a calm founder move.