Who This Helps
You are a founder operator. Revenue is growing, but cash feels flat. You need one number you can explain to your team and investors. This is for you.
The Founder Finance Basics Mission Pack is built for this moment. It gives you compact evidence so you can make faster decisions.
Mini Case
Meet Ben. His SaaS company grew revenue 20% last quarter. But cash barely moved. He had 3 months of runway left, but his gut said something was off.
Ben ran a Runway Forecast from the mission pack. He found that 12% of monthly spend was on a tool nobody used. He cut it. Runway jumped to 5 months. That gave him room to hire one key engineer.
Numbers don't lie. But you have to look.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Pull your last 3 bank statements. Add up all outflows. Don't guess.
- Subtract any one-time expenses. You want your burn rate.
- Divide your cash balance by that burn rate. That is your runway in months.
- Check your Unit Economics Snapshot from the mission. Is your gross margin above 60%? If not, fix pricing first.
- Share the number with your co-founder. Say: "We have X months. Here is our plan."
Avoid These Traps
- Don't include revenue in runway math. Revenue is not cash until it lands.
- Don't ignore monthly subscriptions you forgot about. They add up fast.
- Don't assume growth will save you. Runway is about survival, not hope.
- Don't hide the number from your team. Bad news gets worse in the dark.
- Don't skip the CAC Payback Triage if your growth spend is high. It might be eating your runway.
- Don't use average burn. Use actual last 30 days.
- Don't forget payroll taxes. They are real.
- Don't panic. A clear number lets you act.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you will have a runway number you trust. You will know if you can hire, cut spend, or need to raise. You will sleep better because you looked.
One number. One decision. That is the win.