Money, pricing & model

Your business model, what to charge, and whether the numbers work.

What founders use for money, pricing & model, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. Video · long-form interview, roughly an hour Jason Fried Interview: Bootstrapping vs VC, Profit vs Revenue, Basecamp, HEY & Once Jason Fried
  2. This piece names the exact confusion in the question: profit is earned on paper under accrual rules, but cash is what actually... Ramp Article Why Your Profitable Business Is Running Out of Cash & How to Fix It Ramp
  3. Video Cash Basis vs. Accrual Basis Accounting Explained: Which Is Right for Your Business? YouTube
  4. If the gap between profit on paper and cash in the bank keeps biting you, this is the most widely used practical system for... Penguin Random House Book Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Mike Michalowicz
  5. This is the rare comparison that walks through Zoho Books, Tally, ClearTax, Vyapar and more side by side, with real pricing and... ProfitBooks Article · ~15 min read 6 Best GST Billing Software in India (2026) ProfitBooks
  6. When your spreadsheet starts breaking (you are chasing invoices, guessing at GST, or dreading month-end) Zoho Books is the most... Zoho Books Tool · Free plan, paid tiers from about Rs 899/month Zoho Books Free Accounting Software for Small Businesses in India Zoho
  7. A free, no-signup calculator that forces you and your co-founder to actually weigh the inputs (idea, roles, who is full time,... Foundrs Tool · ~10 minutes to work through Foundrs Co-Founder Equity Calculator Foundrs
  8. When neither founder has money, the honest question is not 'what is fair' but 'what can the company afford without starving... Kruze Consulting Article · ~10 minute read Startup CEO Salary Report Kruze Consulting
  9. This is the exact list a founder gets handed once a term sheet lands, written by YC Continuity's general counsel after hundreds... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · ~10 min read Series A Diligence Checklist Jason Kwon (Y Combinator)
  10. This is a ready folder structure (sections A to M covering legal, IP, employment, financials, and cap table) that you can stand... alexanderjarvis.com Template · Downloadable checklist (folders A to M) Due Diligence Request List Template for Startup Fundraising Alexander Jarvis
  11. For Indian founders the cap table is where diligence most often gets messy (SAFEs, convertible notes, ESOP grants, and vesting... qapita.com Tool · SaaS platform Qapita: Cap Table & ESOP Management for Indian Startups Qapita
  12. Burkland does accounting for hundreds of early startups, so this is a working list of the errors they actually clean up, not... Burkland Associates Article Common Startup Accounting Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) Craig Simmons
  13. Video How Indian Startup Founders Save Crores in Taxes! YouTube
  14. This is the clearest plain-language walkthrough of the one thing that trips up Indian founders billing abroad: your foreign... TaxGuru Article · Long read (with 23 Q&As) GST for Freelancers & Consultants: A Complete Guide for Domestic & Foreign Clients Mohd Muaz Malik
  15. When your company is in India and your customers are abroad, the practical problem is getting paid in foreign currency through... Wise Tool · Product page Wise Business: receive international payments in India Wise
  16. Getting the money in is a GST question, but the regulatory layer around it is FEMA, and founders usually discover this only... Mondaq Article · Medium read Is Your Startup FEMA Compliant? Key Regulations Every Founder Must Know Maheshwari & Co. Advocates & Legal Consultants
  17. This is written by a working SaaS CFO (Ben Murray, CPA), so it explains deferred revenue and accrual recognition in the exact... The SaaS CFO Article · ~15 min read Guide to SaaS Revenue Recognition and Deferred Revenue in SaaS Ben Murray
  18. This is the clearest map we found of the exact question you are asking: who should own your books at each stage, from founders... CFO Advisors Article · 10 to 12 min read You Probably Don't Need a Fractional CFO Yet: A Stage-by-Stage Guide for Founders Alex Wu, CFO Advisors
  19. Two founders who built and scaled FundThrough talk through the same build-versus-outsource finance call you are weighing, and... Cash Flow & Tell Podcast · 39 min When is it Time to Hire a CFO? Steven Uster and Deepak Ramachandran (Cash Flow & Tell)
  20. You do not want to build a three-year model from a blank sheet, and you also do not want a generic one-size template that does... Forecastr Template · 12 templates, make a copy and fill in Forecastr Free Startup Financial Model Templates (Excel and Google Sheets) Forecastr
  21. Video · webinar-length walkthrough Mastering Financial Models for Your Startup with Logan Burchett Logan Burchett (Co-founder, Forecastr)
  22. Before you touch a spreadsheet, this essay reframes what the model is even for, and it answers your exact worry: at pre-seed... Equidam Essay · long-form essay What Are Startup Financial Projections Actually For? Daniel Faloppa
  23. YC's counterpoint is worth hearing precisely because it pushes back on being stingy: if this person is a real co-founder doing... Y Combinator Article · 10 min read How to Split Equity Among Co-Founders Y Combinator

The questions

Business models explained 18

How the money actually flows.

What business model should I choose for my startup? 3 → What's the difference between SaaS, marketplace, and transactional business models? 3 → How do I make money from a free product or freemium model? 3 → How does a marketplace actually make money and solve the chicken-and-egg problem? 3 → Should I sell to businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C)? 2 → All 18 questions in Business models explained →
Pricing & packaging 18

Charge money. Charge more. Here's how.

How do I decide how much to charge for my product? 3 → What is a value metric and why does it matter for pricing? 2 → How many pricing tiers should I have and how should I package them? 3 → Am I charging too little for my product? 3 → How do I raise prices without losing my existing customers? 3 → All 18 questions in Pricing & packaging →
Unit economics & modeling 18

Know what a customer costs and earns.

What are unit economics and why do they matter? 3 → How do I calculate CAC (customer acquisition cost) and LTV? 3 → What is a good LTV to CAC ratio? 3 → What metrics should I actually track as an early-stage SaaS founder? 3 → How do I build a simple financial model or revenue projection? 3 → All 18 questions in Unit economics & modeling →
Bootstrapping & profitability 18

Grow on customer money, keep control.

Can I really build a successful startup without raising money? 3 → How do I bootstrap a startup with little or no money? 3 → How did Zoho and Zerodha bootstrap to billion-dollar companies? 3 → How do I reach profitability (or ramen profitability) as fast as possible? 3 → Bootstrapping vs raising VC, how do I decide? 3 → All 18 questions in Bootstrapping & profitability →
Startup finance & accounting 18

Keep the books, watch the runway.

What financial basics does every founder need to understand? 2 → What is burn rate and runway, and how do I calculate them? 2 → How should I manage cash flow so my startup doesn't run out of money? 3 → Do I need an accountant and proper bookkeeping from day one? 2 → What taxes and compliance do I need to handle as an Indian startup? 1 → All 18 questions in Startup finance & accounting →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →