Updated May 2026 · Standard finance formula
Startup
Startup Runway Calculator
Calculate how many months your company can operate before running out of cash. Factor in monthly burn rate, revenue, and growth to plan fundraising timing. Computes a runway expressed in months, using 4 inputs and the standard startup formula. All math runs in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
How the Formula Works
Basic runway is calculated as: Cash on Hand ÷ (Monthly Burn - Monthly Revenue). With revenue growth factored in, we simulate month-by-month: each month, revenue grows by the growth rate, and net burn (expenses minus revenue) decreases. Runway ends when cumulative spending exceeds cash on hand. Start fundraising 6-9 months before runway ends.
This calculator uses 4 inputs — enough to capture the meaningful drivers of the answer without overwhelming the user. Expect the result to be defensible for most planning and screening contexts; for material decisions, run sensitivity on the discount rate or growth rate to bracket the realistic range of outcomes.
Why This Calculator Matters
Startup planning tools translate cash on hand into months of operation under different revenue and cost assumptions. They are critical for fundraising timing — a CEO who knows runway down to the month negotiates from a stronger position than one who is guessing — and for cost discipline, since the gap between “great” and “disastrous” runway often comes down to a handful of expense decisions.
For live macroeconomic context that flows into many of these calculations — current Treasury yields and the federal funds rate when discounting cash flows, prevailing inflation when projecting revenue, current wage benchmarks when modeling labor cost — pair the result with the live readings on the indicators dashboard. Authoritative free sources for those inputs include the Federal Reserve’s FRED database for rates and macro series, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for wage and inflation data, and SEC EDGAR for public-company financial disclosures.
When to Use This Calculator
Every startup CEO and CFO should run this calculation quarterly. Use it to determine when to start fundraising (always start 6-9 months before runway ends), when to cut costs, and how much revenue growth you need to reach profitability. Investors will ask about your runway in every meeting.
For deeper conceptual background on the inputs and outputs, see the learn library; for the editorial standards behind this page, including how the formula was selected and how the calculator is maintained, see the methodology page; for the full list of available calculators, see the calculators index.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Runway Calculator compute?
Calculate how many months your company can operate before running out of cash. Factor in monthly burn rate, revenue, and growth to plan fundraising timing. The output is expressed in months, labeled “Runway.” The math is the standard startup formula taught in MBA corporate finance courses; the explanation block on this page walks through the calculation step by step.
Are my inputs sent to ExecBolt servers?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. The values you type — internal forecasts, board figures, M&A targets — never leave your device, are never sent to ExecBolt servers, and are not stored after you close the page.
When should I start fundraising relative to my runway?
Start fundraising when you have 9-12 months of runway remaining. The average fundraising process takes 3-6 months, and you never want to negotiate from a position of desperation (less than 3 months of cash). VCs can tell when founders are running out of time, and it weakens your negotiating position significantly.
What is a healthy burn rate?
There's no universal answer, it depends on stage and growth rate. Pre-product-market-fit startups should burn as little as possible ($50-150K/month). Post-PMF companies scaling aggressively may burn $500K-2M/month if growth justifies it. The key metric is burn multiple: net burn ÷ net new ARR. A burn multiple below 2x is excellent; above 3x is concerning.
How do I extend my runway without fundraising?
Options include: 1) Cut non-essential spending (nice-to-have tools, office perks, overstaffed teams). 2) Renegotiate vendor contracts. 3) Shift to revenue-generating activities. 4) Consider revenue-based financing or venture debt. 5) Delay hiring. The goal is to reduce monthly net burn without sacrificing the core growth engine.