You’re not breaking even in six months.

Every founder says the same thing. Six months to break even. Maybe nine if things go slow. You’ve built the spreadsheet. Run the numbers. It all works out.

Six months later, your burn has tripled. The timeline is now twelve months. Then eighteen. Then you stop putting dates on it.

Because you underestimated everything. Hiring costs. Customer acquisition. The time it takes to close deals. The features you’d need to build. The support you’d need to provide.

You weren’t lying to investors. You were lying to yourself. Because admitting it might take two years feels like admitting you might fail.

Build longer runways. Raise more than you think you need. Assume everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much. Because it will.

Double the time. Triple the cost. That’s closer to reality.