Default alive

Default alive describes a company that, on its current growth and spending, will reach profitability before it runs out of money, without needing to raise again. Its opposite, default dead, is a company that runs out first unless something changes. The phrase forces the one question that matters more than any other for a young company: on your present trajectory, do you make it? For a lean founder, knowing which side of the line you're on changes everything. A default-alive business can raise from strength or choose not to raise at all, because it controls its own survival. A default-dead one is on a clock, dependent on investors or a sharp improvement in the numbers. The test is simple and worth running often: project your revenue growth and burn forward, and see whether the cash lasts long enough to turn the corner. If it doesn't, you cut costs or grow faster now, while you still have the runway to act.