Who This Helps
You're a team lead who runs the same finance reports every week. Revenue is up, but cash feels flat. You need a repeatable analytics routine that turns numbers into decisions your stakeholders actually approve. The Founder Finance Basics Mission Pack is built for exactly this—no fluff, just a clear path from data to action.
Mini Case
Meet Ben. He's a founder who saw revenue grow 12% last month, but cash stayed flat. His team was spending on growth without checking payback. Using the CAC Payback Triage mission from the pack, Ben ran a channel-level analysis. He found one channel had a payback period of 7 days—great. Another took 3 months. He stopped that spend, saved 15% of his monthly burn, and got his board to approve the new budget in one meeting.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Run a unit economics snapshot. Grab your last 3 months of revenue, COGS, and customer counts. Calculate gross margin per customer. If it's below 60%, flag it.
- Triage your CAC payback by channel. List every acquisition channel. For each, divide total spend by new customers. Then divide that by gross margin per customer. Any channel over 12 months payback? Pause it.
- Build a pricing scenario guardrail. Pick your top product. Model a 10% price increase and a 10% discount. See how each changes gross margin. Set a stop rule: if discount drops margin below 50%, don't do it.
- Forecast your runway. Take your current cash, add expected revenue for next 3 months, subtract fixed costs. If runway is under 6 months, list three cuts you can make this week.
- Write a fundraising readiness memo. Summarize your unit economics, payback, and runway in one page. Use the Fundraising Readiness Memo mission template. Share it with your board before the next meeting.
Avoid These Traps
- Don't mix channels. Lump all spend together and you'll miss the one channel burning cash. Separate by source.
- Don't ignore gross margin. Revenue growth means nothing if margin is shrinking. Check it monthly.
- Don't skip the stop rules. Without them, you'll keep discounting until profits vanish. Set them in advance.
- Don't present raw data. Stakeholders want decisions, not spreadsheets. Summarize with one number and one action.
- Don't wait for perfect data. Use what you have today. A rough number you act on beats a perfect number you never finish.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have a one-page unit economics snapshot, a channel payback decision, a pricing guardrail, and a runway forecast. Your stakeholders will see clear numbers and clear actions. You'll turn analysis into approved execution—and maybe even free up time for a coffee break. That's a win.