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Hey {{first_name}} 👋, hope you had a great week! In the last issue, we discussed why tracking ARR matters, and now we are moving with the next topic from Financial Metrics content.

Let’s talk about ⬇️

Most founders think burn multiple is just a finance metric.

Something investors care about.
Something you look at after things go wrong.

But after working with dozens of SaaS teams in tight markets, I can tell you this:

Burn multiple is one of the fastest ways to understand if your growth is actually healthy.

And today, I want to break it down in a way you can actually use.

Let’s dig in 👇

1️⃣ What burn multiple really tells you

2️⃣ Why investors care so much (right now)

3️⃣ What’s considered “good” (context matters)

4️⃣ The 3 fastest levers to improve it

5️⃣ Where finance becomes a growth weapon

Burn multiple shows how much revenue you generate for every dollar you burn.

The formula is simple:

Burn Multiple = Net Burn / Net New ARR

That’s it.

Unlike LTV/CAC or sales efficiency, this metric captures everything:

It’s a full-business efficiency lens.

I'm Aleksandar, fractional CFO at Fiscallion, where we help founders like you achieve financial clarity, streamline reporting, and build investor-ready forecasts.

Ready to level up your finances?

In the “growth at all costs” era, burn barely mattered.

Today? Different story.

Investors want:

A burn multiple close to 1.0 or lower signals control.
A rising multiple signals risk.

Same growth. Very different outcomes.

There’s no universal benchmark — stage matters.

Early-stage:
Higher burn multiples are normal while product + GTM are forming.

Series B+:
Efficiency should improve as revenue outpaces burn.

This is why benchmarks (like the a16z ARR-based ones) are so useful — they help you compare apples to apples.

If your burn multiple is too high, focus here first:

Small changes here compound fast.

This is where most teams miss the opportunity.

Burn multiple improves fastest when you:

Finance isn’t just reporting. It’s steering.

Burn multiple isn’t about spending less.

It’s about getting more from what you already spend.

And once you start managing it proactively, runway, confidence, and valuation tend to follow.

If you want, hit reply and tell me:
What’s your current burn multiple — and what’s holding it back?

Happy to take a look.

Chat soon,

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