At every first meeting I have with a founder, I finally ask a question that usually stops the cold conversation:

“How many months dirty have you left?”

Sometimes, there is a fierce assumption. Sometimes, there is a pause and a hopeful response. And sometimes (very often) – there is a silent acceptance: They don't really know.

Over the years working as a partial CFO, I have learned that this question reveals more about a company's financial health and leadership mentality than any financial overview.

If a founder don't know their runwayThey are running their business without a map, hoping that the moment will only take them to the next point.

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Why this simple question matters a lot

By finishing the cash It is one of the most preventable causes of starting failure – and yet, it remains one of the most common. The founders I work with are not reckless or irresponsible. They are building products, growing teams, closing customers, fighting fires and following growth.

But while sprinting towards success, it is very easy to lose track of a reality: Money is not endlessAnd hope is not a strategy.

When a founder does not have a clear, secure response to their cash runway, they are at risk of falling into some ordinary traps:

• The escalation very aggressively Without understanding the degree of combustion cannot support it.
• Hiringassuming that cash will last longer than they do.
• Delay in raising funds Until the options shrink and disappear.
• Confronting crisis decisions When the money goes low – dismissal, bridge rounds, fire sales.

I've seen all this unfold. Not because the founders were not talented or dedicated, but because they did not have full viewership of how much financial room they actually had.

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Why do most founders avoid facing it

In my experience, avoiding RUNWAY The question is rarely a conscious choice.

Next to an emotional reaction. That is why many founders bypass it:

• Fear of the bad news: Looking closely can discover that things are not as durable as hoped. It is easier to move forward and assume it will work.
• Overload with financial complexity: Combustion rates, money flow forecasts, spending models – feels complex, especially if the founder's strength stays out of finance.
• Prejudice of optimism: Everyone founder needs some level of optimism to start a company. But optimism without financial argument can quickly become dangerous.

The irony is that the fear of bad financial news only deteriorates the longer it avoided.

I've seen the blind founders from the money crunches that they “never saw to come” – not because the signs weren't there, but because they didn't want to watch.

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What happens when the founders know their numbers

Founders who can answer the runway question clearly, not unclear, but with conviction, behave differently.

They make more sharp decisions, invest smarter and funds earlier and from a position of strength, not panic. Most importantly, they run their companies with a reassure that filters across the whole organization.

When you know exactly how much time and space you have financially, you stop making reactive, short -term movements and start leading strategically.

From my experience, there is a clear model:

• Companies that survive downward and shock know their intimate runway.
• Companies that fall into crisis almost always have blind spots about the flow of money.

It is not about dangerous risk. It is to be aware of the danger-knowing how far you can lie down before the risk becomes a reality.

How the founders can build financial clarity

You do not need a finance degree or a massive accounting team to answer the runway question.

You need disciplines and some simple habits:

1. Follow the current flow of money every month: Not just income and expenses on paper (real money inside and outside). I have helped the founders create simple chicken, where they can see their banking balance, combustion rate and expected entrances every month without drowning in Spreadsheets.
2. Predict conservatively, not optimistically: Suppose things will last longer and cost more. Every founder wants to believe Next round of funding Or the big client deal is around the corner. Good leaders plan for what happens if this is not the case.
3. Different stress testing scenarios: Happy what happens if the income drops by 20%? What if a main customer lights up? Knowing the answers does not make you pessimistic. It makes you prepare.
4. Engage with your finances, do not transfer blind: Even if you have a team of finances or a CFO (fractional or full -time), the founders must possess a high level of their runway. No one cares about your company's survival as much as you.

The lessons I have learned by seeing the founders of the Faced (and Avoid) the Face -of

When I began to ask the founders about their runway, I assumed it was just one Funds control.

Over time, I realized it was a lithmus test of leadership. The founders who faced the head-to-head question when the numbers were not beautiful-built stronger companies. They remained adaptable. They got up the smarter. They made difficult decisions early, not when they were forced into a corner.

The founders who delayed to face him often found themselves colliding: cutting teams under pressure, getting bad deals to survive, or watching a vision they had worked for years to distribute overnight.

In any company where I helped a founder rebuild after a close financial phone call, the first step was always the same: “Let's get full clarity where we stay today.”

Only from that place of clarity can you guide.

Last thought

If you are the founder and you don't know exactly how much dirty you have left you are not alone.

But you are in danger. Coping with your numbers does not mean to give up hope. It means giving your vision a real chance to survive and flower. In venture, optimism builds dreams, But the financial clarity keeps them alive.