How to calculate your startup runway (and what to do about it)
Runway isn't a number to check once a quarter. It's the single most honest metric your startup has. Here's how to read it — and what to do when it's short.
Runway is cash divided by burn
Runway is brutally simple: your cash in the bank divided by your monthly burn. Burn is expenses minus revenue. If you're spending ₹1,50,000 a month and have ₹15,00,000 in the bank, you have ten months.
The simplicity is the point. Runway can't be spun. It's the one number that tells you how long the company survives if nothing changes.
Read the trend, not the snapshot
One month of runway tells you where you are. Three months of runway numbers tell you where you're going. If runway is shrinking faster than you expected, the burn is the problem — not the cash.
Track it monthly, in the same spreadsheet, with the same definitions. Inconsistent definitions are how founders convince themselves they have more time than they do.
What to do when runway is short
You have two levers: extend the runway or shorten the path to revenue. Cutting costs is the fast lever. Revenue is the slow one. Most founders overestimate how fast revenue arrives, so cut first.
A good rule: when runway drops below 6 months, treat cost-cutting as a default action, not a last resort. The Startup Runway Calculator gives you the number; the decision is yours.
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