Tool · Calculator

Default Alive or Default Dead? (calculator)

Trevor Blackwell · growth.tlb.org Free Beginner

The free calculator Paul Graham's 'Default Alive or Default Dead?' essay links to: put in your cash, monthly expenses, revenue and growth rate and it tells you whether you reach profitability before the money runs out.

  • Enter your real monthly growth rate, not the one in your deck.
  • If the answer is 'default dead', cut costs or raise while you still have months left.
  • Rerun it every month as numbers change.
Open on growth.tlb.org ↗

The question it answers

  1. What is burn rate and runway, and how do I calculate them?

Read with it

  1. The most accessible book for non-finance founders on reading a P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. It demystifies the... hbr.org Book · book (~304 pages) Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs Karen Berman & Joe Knight
  2. The single most useful mental model for whether you actually need to raise. Graham's 'default alive vs default dead' framing... paulgraham.com Article · 10 min read Default Alive or Default Dead? Paul Graham
  3. Once you accept that the spreadsheet lied about your cash, this template makes the timing gap concrete: you enter your real... The Startup Project Tool · Downloadable spreadsheet, 15 to 30 minutes to fill in Startup Runway Calculator Template (Excel and Google Sheets) The Startup Project
  4. Video · About 6 minutes How to calculate burn rate, runway, and growth rate Tim Brady
  5. This is the runway math done in rupees, for the Indian founder, so you plan for 18 to 24 months instead of discovering a hole.... Treelife Article · 20 min read Burn Rate and Runway Calculation for Startups in India: The Complete Guide Treelife
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