Default Alive or Default Dead?

Paul Graham examines whether a startup can reach profitability before its cash runs out. Founders can use the distinction to separate a survival plan from fundraising hopes and judge whether hiring will help growth or shorten the time left to fix the product.

2 sections ยท 4 lessons

Course outline

Surviving without another round

  1. Profitability must arrive before cash runs out
  2. A fundraising fallback needs a trigger

Spending and growth

  1. More employees may leave weak demand unchanged
  2. Investors and founders face different downside

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