We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. It starts with eChai Startup Demo Day on 26 September, all in person. 13 cities confirmed, 716 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city

Money, pricing & model

Startup finance & accounting

Keep the books, watch the runway.

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What financial basics does every founder need to understand? Know your cash balance, monthly burn, runway, and gross margin cold, these four numbers decide whether you live or die. You don't need an accountin... Beginner 3 resources → What is burn rate and runway, and how do I calculate them? Burn rate is how much cash you lose per month (net burn = cash out minus cash in); runway is your cash balance divided by monthly net burn, literal... Beginner 2 resources → Do I need an accountant and proper bookkeeping from day one? Yes, set up clean bookkeeping and a separate business bank account from day one, even if it's just simple software plus a good CA. Messy early book... Beginner 3 resources → What taxes and compliance do I need to handle as an Indian startup? At minimum: register the entity correctly, get GST registration once you cross the threshold, deduct and deposit TDS, and file income tax and ROC r... Intermediate 2 resources → Should I open a separate business bank account before I even register the company, or use my personal account for now? Mixing personal and business money is the first accounting mistake most first-time founders make, and it costs you when tax season or fundraising a... Beginner 3 resources → How much of my own savings is it actually sane to put into my startup before I raise or make revenue? There's no universal number, but a good rule is: never bet money you'd need for rent, dependents, or an emergency inside 12 months. Founders romant... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I price my product so I'm actually making money and not accidentally selling below cost? Most early founders price off gut or competitor screenshots and never compute their true unit economics, so they scale a loss. Start by knowing you... Intermediate 3 resources → When should I move from a spreadsheet to actual accounting software, and which one fits an early Indian startup? A spreadsheet is genuinely fine until you have GST filings, payroll, or more than a handful of invoices a month, at which point manual books start ... Beginner 2 resources → How should I split equity and think about founder salaries when neither of us has money and we don't want a fight later? Equal splits feel fair on day one and cause the most disputes by year two, so split based on honest contribution, risk, and who's full-time, and pu... Advanced 3 resources → What are the most expensive accounting and finance mistakes early founders make that only show up a year later? The classics: commingling personal and business money, missing GST or TDS deadlines, treating GST collected as your own cash, undocumented cofounde... Intermediate 2 resources → Should I hire a full-time finance person, keep using a CA firm, or handle books myself, and at what stage does each make sense? For most early startups the answer is: do the day-to-day yourself or with a bookkeeper, outsource statutory work to a good CA firm, and only hire a... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I build a simple financial model for a pitch deck without pretending I can predict revenue three years out? Investors know your five-year forecast is fiction; what they're really testing is whether you understand your own drivers, so build the model botto... Intermediate 3 resources →

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