Founder money foundations

The basics that founders skip and later regret: paying yourself, a cash buffer for lumpy income, and keeping personal and company money apart.

What founders use for founder money foundations, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. A no-nonsense, ad-light India personal-finance site: plain math and free calculators for emergency funds, goals, and asset... Freefincal Tool Freefincal: goal-based planning and calculators M. Pattabiraman In 13 answers
  2. The free, India-first grounding in what to do with cash once you have it: goals, allocation, SIPs, and not losing it to fees. Zerodha Varsity Course Personal Finance Zerodha Varsity In 5 answers
  3. A trusted India-first place to compare funds and think about where cash goes once you have some to invest. Value Research Tool Value Research: fund research and planning Value Research

The questions

Paying yourself as a founder 7

What to take as salary, and when to stop quietly underpaying yourself.

How much should I pay myself as a founder? 2 → Is it a red flag to investors if I pay myself a proper salary? 2 → When is it okay to give myself a raise as a founder? 2 → Should I pay myself as salary or take dividends from my startup? 2 → How do I pay myself when the company genuinely can't afford a salary yet? 2 → All 7 questions in Paying yourself as a founder →
A safety net on lumpy income 4

The cash buffer that lets a founder make brave decisions instead of scared ones.

How big should my emergency fund be when my income is lumpy? 3 → Where should I actually keep my emergency fund so it's safe but I can reach it fast? 2 → Should I raid my emergency fund to keep the company alive? 2 → How do I build an emergency fund when I'm barely paying myself? 2 →
Keeping personal and company money apart 5

Clean lines, so your finances and your cap table both stay legible.

Should I keep my personal and company money strictly separate? 1 → Can I put personal expenses through the company to save tax? 1 → How do I actually set up separate accounts and cards so company and personal money never mix? 2 → Is it okay to lend my own money to my startup, and how do I do it cleanly? 2 → What records should I keep so my personal and company finances never get tangled? 2 →
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