Critical System

FOUNDER FINANCIAL
SURVIVAL SYSTEM

15 min Monday + 30 min Friday + 4 hrs/month

= Complete Control

Your P&L lies about survival. Cash flow is truth.
Even with a CFO, nobody cares about survival like you do.

THE WEEKLY RHYTHM

Three simple routines that keep you in control

MONDAY

15 minutes

Update 13-Week Cash View

Track 5 Numbers:

  • Cash in Bank
  • Weekly Burn Rate
  • Weeks of Runway
  • AR Over 30 Days
  • Uncommitted Liabilities

Flag Red Triggers:

  • Runway < 16 weeks
  • Burn up >15%
  • AR growing

Post Status Update

FRIDAY

30 minutes

Review Corporate Card Charges

Approve Vendor Invoices

Chase Overdue Invoices

(>7 days)

Apply Spend Policy:

  • <$500: Auto
  • $500-2K: Manager
  • $2K-10K: You+CFO
  • >$10K: Bear/Base/Bull

MONTHLY

4 hours

Reconcile All Accounts

Match All Transactions

Run Variance Analysis

(>10% needs explanation)

Create One-Page Summary

Quarterly:

Update Data Room

BEAR/BASE/BULL FRAMEWORK

For spend >$10K

BEAR CASE

30%
  • Revenue misses 30%
  • Key customer churns
  • Fundraise delayed 6+ mo

Question:

Can we survive without this expense?

BASE CASE

40%
  • Revenue hits 80-90%
  • Current trajectory
  • Fundraise on timeline

Question:

Does it accelerate the plan meaningfully?

BULL CASE

30%
  • Revenue exceeds 20%
  • Major partnership win
  • Oversubscribed round

Question:

Does it help capitalize momentum?

DECISION RULE:

If 2+ scenarios say NO → WAIT

(revisit in 30-60 days)

DECISION RULE:

If 2+ scenarios say YES → PROCEED

(with metrics)

CRITICAL INSIGHTS

Lessons from the trenches

THE P&L LIE

Company thought: 8 months runway
Reality: 11 weeks

Why:

  • AR growing
  • Cash bleeding

Fix:

Track cash, not profit

48-HOUR ACQUISITIONS

Keep 10-file data room updated quarterly:

1. Company Overview
2. Financials TTM
3. Projections
4. Cap Table
5. Customers
6. Product
7. Team
8. Legal
9. Metrics
10. Funding

Tuesday email

Wed meeting

TRUST DOESN'T SCALE

Weekly card reviews catch issues in 7 days

Example:

$8K personal spend caught week 1

  • Policy prevents
  • Reviews catch early

DILUTION VS BURN

Cutting $40K/mo burn = Same 12-month runway as raising $480K

0% dilution vs 10%+ dilution

Every dollar raised costs ownership forever

Burn reduction = Instant runway extension without dilution

RUNWAY TRIGGER POINTS

Know when to act and how urgently

STATUS ACTIONS URGENCY
>26 weeks

Normal operations

  • Monitor weekly
  • Update forecast
Routine
16-26 weeks

Scenario planning

  • Review discretionary spend
  • Accelerate collections
Elevated
8-16 weeks

Burn reduction

  • Freeze hiring
  • Cut discretionary
  • Start fundraise
High
<8 weeks

Emergency mode

  • Cancel non-essential
  • Bridge financing
  • Cut 30-50%
CRITICAL
Safe Zone
Caution Zone
Danger Zone
Crisis Zone