Startup runway is a calendar, not a bank balance, and the math takes sixty seconds. Calculate runway by dividing cash on hand by net monthly burn. If you have six months, you should already be fundraising or cutting costs. Manage to net burn, not gross burn. Cash divided by net burn, checked monthly: six months left means act this month, not next quarter.
Pre-seed is about the team and the insight
At pre-seed, investors are betting on two things: the team and the insight. The team question is whether these founders can build this company. The insight question is whether they see something about the market that others do not. Everything else, the product, the traction, the deck, is supporting evidence for those two bets.
The pre-seed pitch should lead with the insight. What do you know about this market that is not obvious? Why is now the right time? Why are you the team to build it? Three slides: insight, team, plan. Everything else is appendix. The meeting should be a conversation, not a presentation. If you are reading slides, you have already lost.
Your pitch deck should be ten slides, not thirty
The ten slides that matter: problem, solution, market size, product, traction, business model, team, competition, financials, and ask. If you cannot tell your story in ten slides, you do not understand your story. Every additional slide dilutes the message.
The most important slide is traction. Not vanity metrics like total signups or page views, but metrics that show momentum: month-over-month revenue growth, retention rate, pipeline growth, or customer logos. If you do not have traction yet, the most important slide is the insight. Show that you understand the market better than anyone else. Insight is the pre-traction substitute for traction.
Investor updates are a fundraising tool
Monthly investor updates serve future investors as much as current ones. They are the most effective fundraising tool you have. A consistent monthly update sent to prospective investors builds familiarity and demonstrates execution over time. When you are ready to raise, the investors who have been reading your updates for six months are the easiest to close.
The format: three sections, one page. Section one is metrics: revenue, growth rate, burn, runway. Section two is highlights: what shipped, what closed, what worked. Section three is asks: what do you need help with, what introductions would be valuable? Send it on the same day every month. Consistency builds trust.
Your cap table should be boring
A clean cap table has founders, employees, and institutional investors. A messy cap table has fifty angel investors, convertible notes with different terms, advisory shares, and verbal promises. Messy cap tables kill deals. Institutional investors will pass on a company with a complicated cap table because the cleanup cost exceeds the investment thesis.
Keep it simple from the start. Use standard documents. Issue equity through a proper equity management platform. Do not give advisory shares without a vesting schedule. Do not promise equity verbally. Every equity grant should be documented, approved by the board, and recorded in the cap table. Boring is good. Boring means investable.
Term sheets are about control as much as valuation
Founders focus on valuation because it is the number that feels like winning. The terms that matter more are control provisions: board composition, protective provisions, anti-dilution rights, and liquidation preferences. A high valuation with bad terms is worse than a lower valuation with clean terms.
The terms to negotiate hardest: board seats (keep founder majority), protective provisions (limit them to truly major decisions), and pro-rata rights (fine to give, but understand the implications for future rounds). Liquidation preferences should be 1x non-participating. Anything more is a red flag. Get a lawyer who has done fifty venture deals, not a general practice attorney.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate runway?
Cash on hand divided by net monthly burn: what goes out minus what comes in. Gross burn flatters you; net burn is the truth. The answer is a number of months, and it deserves a monthly review.
How much runway is enough?
Twelve months is comfortable, six is tense, three is a crisis you have not announced. If you are at six, you should already be fundraising or cutting, because both take longer than founders expect.
What is the difference between gross and net burn?
Gross burn is everything you spend; net burn subtracts revenue. Net is the number that eats the cash. Companies quoting gross burn to themselves are doing accounting theater.
How do I extend runway without raising?
Cut the costs that do not buy learning or growth, starting with the largest: usually one salary or one tool category. Raise prices or collect prepayments if customers will trade. One honest cut beats ten timid trims.
What if runway is under three months?
Tell your board and team leads this week, cut to the bone immediately, and pursue bridge capital and revenue in parallel. Silence burns the one asset you have left: the trust you need to pull off the save.