Definition · also called cash runway, startup runway, personal runway
Runway is how many months a company can keep operating before its cash runs out, at its current burn rate. It is the single most important number for a founder living off savings.
For an indie maker who quit a job, the real number is personal runway: savings divided by monthly living costs plus business costs, minus whatever the products earn.
Runway formula
Runway (months) = cash available ÷ monthly net burn
- Net burn = monthly costs − monthly revenue.
- For a solo founder include rent, food, health insurance and taxes, not just hosting.
- If revenue grows each month, real runway is longer than the simple formula; if costs creep, it is shorter. Recalculate monthly.
Worked example
You have $36,000 saved. Living costs are $3,000/month, business costs $300/month, and your products bring in $800 MRR.
- Net burn = $3,300 − $800 = $2,500/month
- Runway = $36,000 ÷ $2,500 = 14.4 months
Getting MRR to $3,300 makes burn zero: that is ramen profitability.
Runway in practice: how indie makers use it
How makers in the directory bought themselves runway:
Worked at startups in Dubai and returned to Nigeria with more than $20,000 in savings to run Selar full time; growth was slow at first. (source: techcabal.com)
Quit his job in 2018 and gave himself one year to reach $1,000 MRR, living on a small runway while shipping product after product. (source: indiehackers.com)
Early lifetime-deal sales of more than $9K gave Unicorn Platform the runway to keep going until recurring revenue took over. (source: failory.com)
When a startup exit left him with little runway, he sold three earlier free tools for about $5K to bridge the gap and went indie instead of back to VC-backed startups. (source: partnerkin.com)
Avoids the runway question entirely by building OnlineOrNot alongside a full-time job, about two hours before each workday. (source: onlineornot.com)
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate runway?
Divide the cash you have by your monthly net burn (costs minus revenue). $36,000 of cash with $2,500 net burn is 14.4 months of runway.
What is the difference between gross burn and net burn?
Gross burn is everything you spend in a month. Net burn subtracts revenue, so it is the amount your cash actually goes down each month.
How much runway should I have before quitting my job?
Many indie makers aim for 12–24 months of personal living costs, or quit only once products cover a meaningful share of expenses. The more revenue you already have, the less runway you need.
Related terms
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Maker examples are paraphrased from the cited sources and from each maker's IndieMakerList profile; revenue is self-reported unless marked verified. Spotted an error? Tell us.