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How many months of runway do you have? Cash divided by net burn gives you the answer. Model new hires to see how each engineer compresses the timeline. URL-shareable so you can send the exact scenario to your co-founder or board.
Runway in months = cash on hand divided by net monthly burn. Net burn = gross burn minus monthly revenue. If revenue covers burn (net burn is zero or negative), runway is effectively infinite — the company is cashflow-positive.
Conventional wisdom: start raising at 12 months of runway and close by 6 months. Below 6 months, you are negotiating from weakness. The calculator's danger band reflects this rule of thumb.
Per-engineer monthly cost = base salary × 1.3 / 12. The 1.3 multiplier covers employer-side payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, state), healthcare, equipment, and tools. If your loaded cost differs (e.g., remote-only with no benefits ≈ 1.15, or NYC office with full benefits ≈ 1.4), adjust the salary input upward or downward.
No — this is a strict cost-side model. New engineering hires usually take 6 to 18 months to contribute revenue, and attributing future revenue to specific headcount is notoriously hard. The conservative move is to model their cost without their revenue contribution and treat any revenue uplift as upside.
The calculator uses a steady-state monthly burn. If you have lumpy expenses (annual SaaS renewals, end-of-quarter marketing pushes, contractor invoices), either average them into the monthly burn or use this calculator as a baseline and adjust for known events separately.
Yes — every input is encoded in the URL. The 'Copy share link' button copies the current URL to your clipboard. Send it to your co-founder, board, or investor and they open the calculator with the same numbers.
Definition
The canonical definition with cross-references to burn rate and fundraise-timing conventions.
Definition
Gross vs net burn, what it means, and why investors care.
Companion tool
Once your runway tells you it's time to raise, the SAFE calculator tells you what the SAFE will convert to at the next priced round.
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Runway
21.4 months
Operating runway — runs out around Feb 2028.
Net monthly burn
$70k
Gross burn minus current revenue.
Added burn from hires
—
Add headcount to model the impact.
Total net burn
$70k
What's actually consuming cash per month.
Fundraise rule of thumb: start raising at 12 months of runway, close by 6 months. The "danger" band below 6 means you're negotiating from weakness.
Loaded cost: per-engineer monthly cost = salary × 1.3 / 12. The 1.3 multiplier covers employer-side taxes, healthcare, equipment, and tools — adjust the salary input if your loaded cost differs.
The URL contains your inputs — share it with your co-founder or investor without retyping anything.
Educational tool. Real runway calculations should account for seasonality, accruals, deferred revenue, payment-collection timing, and one-off expenses. Not financial planning advice — talk to your CFO or fractional finance lead.