Agent skill · magnus919
yc-default-alive-calculator
Evaluate whether a startup is on a trajectory to profitability before
What it needs
About 5k tokens when loaded.
What this skill does
Default Alive / Default Dead Calculator A startup is "default alive" if its current revenue trajectory will reach profitability before it runs out of cash — without additional funding. It is "default dead" if it will run out of money first. This is the single most important financial diagnostic Paul Graham developed at Y Combinator. This is not a fundraising model. It's a reality check. The answer determines whether fundraising is optional or existential. When to Load Trigger Example --------- --------- "Am I default alive?" Founder asking about runway "How much runway do I have?" Financial planning "Should I raise money?" Strategic decision "What's my burn multiple?" Investor-ready metrics "How long until we break even?" Trajectory check "Default alive/dead analysis" Explicit framework request When Not to Use Detailed financial planning. This is a diagnostic, not a budget. It projects one growth curve with fixed assumptions; it does not model hiring plans, contract timing, seasonality, or capital expenditures. Use a proper financial model for those. Fundraising valuation. The verdict tells you whether raising money is existential; it does not compute a valuation, cap table, or round size. Cost structures the default assumptions don't describe. The model splits burn into fixed and variable components (default 70/30). Hardware, R&D, or manufacturing companies with very different cost structures will get a misleading projection. Unknown or unstable growth. The model assumes a steady monthly growth rate with a small decay. A company in launch mode or product-market-fit search does not produce a meaningful projection. As the only input to a board decision. Treat the verdict as a conversation starter with your CFO or accountant, not as financial advice. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills magnus919/yc-default-alive-calculator