As a founder your income is lumpy and your job security is basically nonexistent, so your personal emergency fund should be larger than the usual three to six months of expenses people quote. Many founders aim for closer to nine to twelve months of personal living costs, held in something boring and instantly reachable like a savings account, a sweep FD, or a liquid fund. The point is not to earn on this money, it is to never be forced to sell equity, borrow, or take a bad deal because rent is due. Size it against your real monthly spend, not a round number, and top it back up whenever you dip in. This is separate from your company runway. How much you need is personal, so treat this as a starting frame and adjust for your dependents, health, and how volatile your income really is.
A curated summary to orient you, not advice. The resources below are the real value.
2 hand-picked resources, 2 India-specific, 1 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
Why we picked it The free, India-first grounding in what to do with cash once you have it: goals, allocation, SIPs, and not losing it to fees.
From Zerodha Varsity by Zerodha Varsity
Open zerodha.com →Why we picked it A no-nonsense, ad-light India personal-finance site: plain math and free calculators for emergency funds, goals, and asset allocation, with no product to sell you.
From Freefincal by M. Pattabiraman
Open freefincal.com →
