STARTUP · CAPITAL EFFICIENCY
Burn Multiple Calculator
Are you burning faster than you're growing? See how many dollars of monthly burn each new dollar of ARR is costing you.
Result
How to use it
- Enter your net burn for the month and the net new ARR you added in that same month. Net burn is cash out minus cash in, not gross spend, so subtract revenue before you type the number. Net new ARR is the change in annualised recurring revenue this period, not bookings or one-time deals. Both numbers must cover the same window or the ratio is meaningless. The tool annualises each one (×12) under the hood, so a single clean month is enough to get a directional read, but a three-month average smooths out lumpy enterprise deals.
- Read the burn multiple, which is simply net burn divided by net new ARR. The verdict band tells you where you sit: below 1.0 is amazing and extremely capital-efficient, 1.0 to 1.5 is great, 1.5 to 2.0 is good, 2.0 to 3.0 is concerning, and above 3.0 is unsustainable. This metric, popularised by David Sacks, answers one question that growth rate alone hides: how many dollars are you setting on fire to buy each new dollar of recurring revenue?
- Use the verdict to separate efficient growth from bought growth. A company growing 100% year over year looks healthy until the burn multiple shows it is spending three dollars to add one. Two startups with identical ARR growth can have completely different survival odds, and the burn multiple is what exposes the difference before the cash-out date does.
- Run a downside case by holding net burn flat and cutting net new ARR by 30%, the kind of slowdown a single lost quarter produces. If that pushes you from good into concerning or unsustainable, your efficiency depends on growth you have not yet proven is durable. Then test the opposite lever: how much would you need to trim burn to hold the same multiple if growth stalls?
- Re-run every month or quarter and track the multiple as a trend, not a snapshot. A rising burn multiple over two or three quarters is an early warning that acquisition is getting more expensive or revenue is decelerating, usually visible here before it shows up in the runway calculator. Pair this with the startup runway tool to convert an efficiency problem into a concrete number of months.
Questions people usually ask
What decision is Burn Multiple Calculator designed for?
Burn Multiple Calculator helps teams are you burning faster than you're growing? net monthly burn ÷ net new arr — the cash-efficiency check. before committing budget, pricing, or operating changes.
How can I get decision-grade output quality?
Use validated baseline numbers, run downside and upside scenarios, and align assumptions with your real cadence and constraints.
Is this legal, tax, or accounting advice?
No. Outputs are business planning estimates and should be reviewed with qualified professionals when required.
Is this free and private?
Yes. Tools run client-side in your browser with no signup.
Related Resources
Learn the decision before you act
Every link here is tied directly to Burn Multiple Calculator. Use the explanation, formula, examples, and benchmarks to pressure-test the calculator output from first principles.
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