Burn Multiple Calculator
Calculate the "Burn Multiple", a startup capital efficiency metric, just by entering net burn and Net New ARR for a period. Instantly see a rating based on David Sacks' benchmark (Amazing, Great, Good, Suspect, or Bad).
Burn Multiple benchmark (proposed by David Sacks)
| Range | Tier | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Below 1 | Amazing | Top tier. Net New ARR exceeds cash burned, indicating exceptional capital efficiency. |
| 1 to below 1.5 | Great | Excellent efficiency that investors tend to rate highly. |
| 1.5 to below 2 | Good | A healthy level, roughly in line with industry averages. |
| 2 to below 3 | Suspect | Worth reviewing sales efficiency and spending structure. |
| 3 or above | Bad | Danger zone. At this pace, raising future funding is likely to become difficult. |
Tips
- Net burn is usually taken from "cash flow from operations", not the accounting net loss (which includes non-cash items like depreciation) — make sure you're using the cash-based figure.
- When calculating monthly, use that month's burn and Net New ARR; when calculating quarterly, use the sum over three months, so the time granularity matches on both sides.
- A single month's figure can swing sharply around the timing of large deal closes, so tracking a 3-6 month rolling average gives a more reliable trend.
- While the Magic Number measures sales efficiency relative to S&M spend, Burn Multiple is a broader metric measuring growth efficiency relative to total company cash burn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Side Note — A new buzzword born from the end of the zero-interest-rate era
Burn Multiple rapidly gained popularity around 2022, right as the end of the so-called "zero interest rate era" triggered a major shift in venture capital's investment posture. Before that, the prevailing mindset was "as long as you're growing, burning cash is fine — you can always raise more." But once rising interest rates made fundraising harder, investors began scrutinizing growth efficiency far more closely. Burn Multiple, popularized by David Sacks of Craft Ventures, quickly became the symbol of this shift in mood.
One reason the metric caught on so quickly is its simplicity compared to existing capital efficiency metrics like the Magic Number or LTV/CAC ratio. It can be computed from just two numbers any founder should already track monthly — net burn and Net New ARR — and its intuitive threshold ("below 1 is exceptional") made it an instant common language in investor conversations and board meetings.
That said, Burn Multiple is only a single-month or single-quarter snapshot, and can swing significantly around the timing of a large contract renewal or churn event. Rather than reacting to a single bad month, it's generally considered best practice to track the trend over several quarters and combine it with other metrics like the Rule of 40 or LTV/CAC ratio for a well-rounded view.