Startup Runway Simulator

See how your budget, team, and tech stack choices affect your runway. Will you ship the MVP before running out of money?

Bankrupt!

Starting Budget

How much runway do you have?

£50k
£10k£500k

Tech Stack

This choice matters more than you think

Team Composition

Who's building this?

Revenue Projection

What happens after MVP launch?

Ran out of money in Month 7. MVP was only 84% complete. Consider a larger budget or leaner team.

Consider reducing your burn rate by choosing a leaner team or simpler tech stack. Every £1,000 saved per month extends your runway.

Survival Plan
£0
Cash
84%
Progress
7
Months

Understanding Startup Runway

Runway is how long your startup can survive before running out of money. This simulator helps you visualize how different decisions — team size, tech stack, budget allocation — affect your ability to ship a product before the money runs out. It's the most critical calculation for any bootstrapped founder or early-stage startup.

What This Simulator Shows

  • Cash Burn Rate — Monthly costs based on team salaries and infrastructure
  • Development Velocity — How fast you progress toward MVP completion
  • The Gap of Death — Visual danger zone when you run out before shipping
  • Revenue Impact — How post-launch revenue extends your runway
  • Alternative Scenarios — AI-powered insights on what could have worked

Key Lessons for Founders

Start with Monolith

Microservices add £450/month in infra costs and slow velocity by 40%. A Rails or Next.js monolith on a £50 VPS handles 10,000+ users easily.

Smaller Teams Ship Faster

Two people can often outship five due to less coordination overhead. A single senior developer at £8k/mo beats a £20k/mo "dream team" pre-PMF.

Revenue Changes Everything

Even £5k/month post-launch can turn a death spiral into sustainable growth. Plan for revenue from day one, not as an afterthought.

No-Code Has Hard Limits

Bubble and similar tools are fast for validation but hit scalability walls. Plan your migration before you need it, not after.

Simulation Parameters

Budget — £10k to £500k
Team — Founders to Dream Team
Stack — No-Code to Microservices
Revenue — £1k to £50k/month
Timeline — Up to 24 months
Goal — 100% MVP completion

Who Is This For?

  • First-time founders planning their MVP budget and timeline
  • Bootstrapped startups deciding between hiring and outsourcing
  • Technical co-founders explaining burn rate to non-technical partners
  • Anyone considering how tech choices affect startup survival

Privacy

All calculations happen in your browser. No data is sent to any server. Your budget, team, and tech stack choices are never stored or tracked.