How to calculate startup runway
- Enter the cash you have available today and your total monthly costs: salaries, rent, software, contractors and marketing.
- Enter your current monthly revenue and how fast you expect revenue and costs to grow each month.
- The runway shows how many months until the cash runs out and the date, with a chart of the cash balance. If revenue overtakes costs first, you see the break-even month instead.
Runway, burn rate and planning a raise
Runway is the time a company can keep operating before it runs out of money. The simple version is cash ÷ net burn, where net burn is monthly costs minus monthly revenue: 250,000 in the bank with a burn of 24,000 gives about ten months. Growth changes the picture: revenue that grows 8% a month shrinks the burn every month, while hiring makes costs grow. This calculator projects both month by month for up to ten years.
Fundraising usually takes three to six months from first meetings to money in the bank, so founders are advised to start raising with at least six to nine months of runway left, and to aim for 18 to 24 months of runway after a round. If the runway is short, the levers are cutting costs, growing revenue faster, raising prices or collecting payments sooner. Projections are only as good as their assumptions, so try a pessimistic scenario too: lower growth and higher costs. Share the link to give an adviser or co-founder the same numbers. Everything is calculated in your browser.
What is a good runway for a startup?
12–18 months is comfortable; under 6 months is urgent. After raising, many founders aim for 18–24 months.
What is the difference between gross and net burn?
Gross burn is total monthly spending. Net burn is spending minus revenue, the amount your cash actually falls each month.
Should I include money I expect to raise?
No. Calculate runway on cash you have. Model a raise separately once the money is committed.