How many months of cash do you actually have left? Enter your cash on hand and monthly burn rate to see your runway, the exact date your cash runs out, and whether you need to start fundraising now.
Runway = Cash on Hand ÷ Monthly Net Burn. If you have $500k in the bank and burn $40k/month net, your runway is 12.5 months. Net burn = gross monthly expenses minus monthly revenue.
Raise when you have 9–12 months of runway left. A typical seed/Series A round takes 3–6 months from first pitch to wired cash, and investors get nervous when founders are visibly desperate. Starting at 12 months gives you leverage to walk away from bad terms.
Post-fund-raise, VCs expect 18–24 months of runway — enough to hit the milestones that justify the next round. Below 12 months is a yellow flag. Below 6 months is a crisis: you have weeks to close or cut burn hard.