Operations

Runway

The number of months a company can operate at its current burn rate before running out of cash.

Runway is the most visceral deadline in a startup. It tells you how much time you have to either become profitable or raise your next round of funding. The general advice is to maintain at least twelve months of runway at all times, with eighteen months being comfortable and twenty-four months being ideal heading into a fundraise. Runway calculations must account for expected revenue growth (which extends runway) and planned hiring or investments (which compress it). Many founders calculate runway on a static basis — cash divided by current burn — but dynamic runway that models growth changes gives a more accurate picture. When runway drops below six months, most other priorities become secondary to extending it, whether through revenue acceleration, cost reduction, or emergency fundraising.