Runway
I often speak to founders about how to think about runway.
The critical point of using “runway” as a metaphor for running out of money is that the plane has to take off before it hits the end of the runway. To do that, it has to reach VLOF, or the speed at which takeoff is viable. Trundling along at sub-VLOF speeds may feel like you are safer in the short-term, but it guarantees an eventual catastrophic meeting with the end of the runway…
The concept was brilliantly brought to life by an anecdote I read in a biography of NVIDIA: The NVIDIA Way. Jensen Huang, with just 9 months of runway left, purchases a new machine for $1m that allows the company to test its chips faster and therefore get to market faster. Many thought he was crazy: chopping 3 months off an already-short runway. But Jensen understood that the machine was the only route to accelerate towards VLOF - to get airborne before running out of runway.
Sometimes it feels scary to go faster: as though you may lose control and career off the side of the mountain. But sometimes it’s the only option.