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The Goal of Capital (At This Stage)
If you’re starting with zero capital, that’s a different design problem.
We covered that last issue.
This one assumes:
Money exists, or revenue can arrive fast enough to act like it does.
This is Stage 1: Conception → First Revenue
Industry Lens: Service / Agency / Consulting
Capital has one job here:
Keep you stable long enough for revenue to stop being a guess.
Not scale. Not growth.
Stability.
The Capital Sequence
Lock this in:
Calculate the amount needed
Translate that into time
Decide how that time gets funded
Step 1: Calculate Monthly Survival Burn
Three buckets.
A. Founder Personal Minimum
Rent, food, utilities, healthcare, minimum debt.
Example: $3,500
B. Business Expenses Required to Operate
Only expenses required to:
Sell
Deliver
Operate legally
Example: $1,500
C. Reality Cushion
Multiply the base:
High certainty → 1.25×
Medium certainty → 1.5×
Low certainty → 2×
Base: $5,000
Cold start → 2×
👉 Monthly Survival Burn = $10,000
Step 2: Translate Burn Into Time
Ask one powerful question:
“If nothing changes, how long until this hits zero?”
Formula: Capital available ÷ Monthly Survival Burn
Example: $30,000 ÷ $10,000 = 3 months
This number defines urgency.
Step 3: Define Stability Through Revenue
For service businesses, revenue can arrive early.
Ask: “How many clients per month cover survival?”
Formula: Monthly Survival Burn ÷ Average Client Price
Example: $10,000 ÷ $2,500 = 4 clients/month
That’s not ambition. That’s stability defined.
You Don’t Need Infinite Runway
You need:
A floor you can trust
A number that calms decisions
A model that matches reality
When the floor is solid, the ceiling can wait.
Community Note
Capital clarity doesn’t remove risk.
It removes surprise.
When founders know their burn, their time, and their stability number:
Panic drops
Focus sharpens
Decisions slow down, in a good way
👉 Reply with:
A win you had after defining your burn
Or the hardest line item you struggled to include
We’re collecting real scenarios for the NestLedger Playbook so founders can learn from each other, not just from theory.
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