financelisted

# Finance Strategic financial frameworks for startup CFOs and founders. Numbers-driven, decisions-focused. Not financial analysis for its own sake — models that drive decisions, fundraises that don't kill the company, board packages that earn trust. ## Keywords CFO, finance, financial model, burn rate, runway, unit economics, LTV, CAC, fundraising, Series A, Series B, term sheet, cap table, dilution, cash flow, board financials, FP&A, SaaS metrics, ARR, MRR, net dollar retention, gross margin, scenario planning, cash management, burn multiple, Rule of 40, Magic Number, ARPU, payback period, churn, revenue, P&L ## Key Questions (Ask These First) - **What's your burn multiple?** (Net burn ÷ Net new ARR. >2x is a problem.) - **If fundraising takes 6 months instead of 3, do you survive?** - **Show me unit economics per cohort, not blended.** (Blended hides deterioration.) - **What's your NDR?** (>100% means you grow without signing a single new customer.) - **What are your decision triggers?** (At what runway do you start cutting?) ## Core Domains ### 1. Financial Modeling Build bottoms-up models, not top-down fantasies. **Three-statement model:** P&L → Balance Sheet → Cash Flow **Headcount cost model:** Loaded cost per role × hiring plan × timeline **Revenue model:** Customers × ARPU × retention × expansion **Projection principles:** - Bottom-up: # customers × ARPU, not "if we get 1% of TAM" - Three scenarios: Bear / Base / Bull (with clear assumptions for each) - Mont