What is the difference between gross burn and net burn rate?

Gross burn is the total amount of cash your startup spends each month on operating expenses (payroll, servers, rent, marketing). Net burn is gross burn minus your monthly collected revenue. If you spend $50,000/mo and make $15,000/mo, your gross burn is $50k and your net burn is $35k.

How do I calculate my startup's zero-cash date?

Divide your current cash reserves in the bank by your average monthly net burn rate. If you have $300,000 in cash and a net burn of $25,000/month, your runway is 12 months until your zero-cash date.

How does monthly revenue growth extend operational runway?

As monthly recurring revenue (MRR) compounds faster than operating expenses grow, net monthly cash outflows shrink each month, extending the runway curve non-linearly until the company reaches break-even (default alive).

What is a post-money SAFE and how does it dilute founder equity?

A post-money SAFE fixes investor ownership as a direct percentage of the company post-investment. Investor Ownership = Investment Amount / Post-Money Valuation. All previous shareholders (including founders) are diluted proportionally by that percentage before subsequent rounds.

How does an employee stock option pool (ESOP) shuffle impact dilution?

When investors require an unallocated option pool (typically 10% to 15%) created prior to financing, that pool is carved out entirely from the existing founder equity, diluting existing founders before the incoming investment round closes.

What is the formula for calculating startup dilution in priced equity rounds?

Retained Founder Equity = Pre-Round Founder Equity * (1 - Investor Ownership Share) * (1 - New Option Pool Reservation).

How many months of runway should an early-stage startup maintain?

Seed and Series A startups should target 18 to 24 months of runway. This allocates 12 to 15 months to hit business milestones and metrics, plus a 4 to 6-month buffer to close the next fundraising round.

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Finance

Startup Runway & Equity Dilution Calculator

Calculate your startup cash runway, net burn rate schedule, zero-cash date, and model founder equity dilution across SAFE and priced investment rounds.

Quick Scenario Presets:

Static Runway

18.8 Mos

Zero-cash date: Apr 2028

Net Monthly Burn

$40,000

Gross: $55,000/mo | Rev: $15,000/mo

Viability Status

Default Dead

Requires funding or lower burn

Post-Round Retained

73.1%

Dilution: -26.9% (Investors + ESOP)

Cash, Burn & Growth Drivers

Enter monthly operational financials & expected growth

Current Liquid Cash Reserves ($)

Monthly Gross Burn ($)

Monthly Recurring Revenue ($)

MoM Revenue Growth (%)8%

MoM Expense Inflation (%)3%

Cap Table & Equity Dilution Modeler

Model SAFE rounds, priced equity rounds & option pools

Current Founder Equity Stake (%)

Target Round Investment ($)

Post-Money Valuation ($)

New Unallocated ESOP Pool (%)10%

Post-Round Ownership BreakdownTotal: 100%

Founders (73.1%)

Investors (18.8%)

ESOP (10.0%)

24-Month Runway Cash Flow Forecast

Monthly dynamic projection accounting for compounding growth

Month	MRR	Gross Burn	Net Outflow	Ending Cash Balance	Status
Month 1	$15,000	$55,000	-$40,000	$710,000	Burning
Month 2	$16,200	$56,650	-$40,450	$669,550	Burning
Month 3	$17,496	$58,350	-$40,854	$628,697	Burning
Month 4	$18,896	$60,100	-$41,204	$587,492	Burning
Month 5	$20,407	$61,903	-$41,496	$545,997	Burning
Month 6	$22,040	$63,760	-$41,720	$504,276	Burning
Month 7	$23,803	$65,673	-$41,870	$462,407	Burning
Month 8	$25,707	$67,643	-$41,936	$420,471	Burning
Month 9	$27,764	$69,672	-$41,908	$378,563	Burning
Month 10	$29,985	$71,763	-$41,777	$336,785	Burning
Month 11	$32,384	$73,915	-$41,532	$295,254	Burning
Month 12	$34,975	$76,133	-$41,158	$254,095	Burning
Month 13	$37,773	$78,417	-$40,644	$213,451	Burning
Month 14	$40,794	$80,769	-$39,975	$173,476	Burning
Month 15	$44,058	$83,192	-$39,135	$134,341	Burning
Month 16	$47,583	$85,688	-$38,106	$96,236	Burning
Month 17	$51,389	$88,259	-$36,870	$59,366	Burning
Month 18	$55,500	$90,907	-$35,406	$23,960	Burning
Month 19	$59,940	$93,634	-$33,694	$0	Depleted

Quick Definition & Answer

What is the Startup Runway & Equity Dilution Calculator?

Startup runway analysis calculates the exact operating survival duration remaining before corporate cash reserves are fully exhausted by negative net burn rates. It divides total liquid treasury reserves by monthly net cash burn rate while factoring projected customer revenue growth trajectories and planned payroll expansions. This equips founders and executive teams with critical operational visibility to execute timely institutional capital raises or implement strategic cost containment measures.

Financial Calculation Inputs

Supported Inputs: Principal balances, interest rates, compounding schedules, and tenures.
Precision Model: High-precision IEEE-754 floating-point arithmetic with decimal rounding.
Data Privacy: Zero cloud logs. Figures are calculated locally in your browser memory.

Output & Schedule Breakdown

Visual Analytics: Month-by-month schedules, dynamic charts, and cash flow summaries.
Currency Support: Multi-currency symbol formatting (USD, EUR, GBP, INR, JPY, CAD, AUD).
Access Guarantee: 100% unlocked with zero limits, subscriptions, or forced account creation.

How to Use the Startup Runway & Equity Dilution Calculator

Follow these 3 simple steps for instant, accurate calculations.

1. Enter Primary Parameters

Input cash in bank, monthly gross burn, and current monthly recurring revenue.

2. Configure Settings

Adjust projected month-over-month revenue growth rate and expense inflation.

3. Analyze Results

Model investment round target size, post-money valuation, and ESOP pool dilution.

Financial Privacy & Architecture Comparison

Why client-side financial calculations protect your privacy better than cloud services.

Evaluation Criteria	ToolboxDock (Client-Side)	Traditional Online Calculators
Financial Data Privacy	100% In-Memory Client Execution (Zero Server Transit)	Logged on remote servers and ad networks
Calculation Latency	Instant real-time update on keystroke	Full page reloads or API round-trips
Offline Usability	Works offline once cached in browser	Fails without active server connection
Cost & Paywalls	100% free with unlimited calculations	Usage caps or financial product paywalls

Startup Runway & Equity Dilution Calculator Mathematical Logic

Simulates cash depletion runway trajectories and calculates post-round cap table ownership dilution for founders and option pools.

Variable Legend & Definitions

Total liquid operating bank reserves ($)

Monthly gross operational burn minus monthly top-line revenue ($)

Retained founder ownership equity percentage after financing round (%)

Unallocated employee stock option pool reservation share (%)

Core Startup Runway & Equity Dilution Calculator Inputs & Terminology

Gross vs. Net Burn

Gross burn measures total monthly operating outflows. Net burn subtracts incoming monthly revenue to determine true monthly cash loss.

Default Alive

A startup is default alive if its current revenue growth trajectory reaches profitability before bank reserves are exhausted.

Post-Money SAFE

A financing agreement locking investor ownership to a fixed percentage of post-round valuation, diluting pre-existing shareholders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about using our free Startup Runway & Equity Dilution Calculator.

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