Startup Death Clock(thestartupfoundry.com)
thestartupfoundry.com
Startup Death Clock
http://thestartupfoundry.com/deathclock/
22 comments
We have a death clock on our company dashboard. Cash on hand/burn rate/revenue are updated a couple of times a month manually. We have yet to figure out a way to get the data programmatically.
What do you use for accounting?
If you use something like Xero.com then you can use their API to poll for the data whenever you want (though likely daily unless you're also performing reconciliation via the API).
If you use something like Xero.com then you can use their API to poll for the data whenever you want (though likely daily unless you're also performing reconciliation via the API).
Last time there was noise about startup death clocks (let me find the link to the last discussion later), I thought it was a good idea but not at all what I wanted. What I wanted was to be able to plug in the actual income/outgoing for individual months/days and be able to see when the trend lines change, or choose which time frames to calculate over, and not just to determine "when will I run out of money?" but also "when will I become rich?" using the trend of the last month, six months, year, total, what have you. Not only that, but early in a startup, in/out costs can be highly variable month to month.
So I implemented some basic java scripts to record and update incoming and outgoing transactions and I realized as I was starting to put data in, that I would much rather not input all transactions but just get the data from my bank.
Then I realized that this would be much better as a plugin for a ledger/budget balancer program, or for something like mint.com. And I kind of abandoned progress on it there, as I don't use mint, and I started looking at various programs to help me track money but realized that keeping a spreadsheet of "money at start of month, money at end of month", still works fine for me, and with some macros I can determine what I want to know.
So... for some one who does use these programs, would a plugin (or just a script on exported data) be worth it? Should I learn to use mint or gnucash or whatever for this?
So I implemented some basic java scripts to record and update incoming and outgoing transactions and I realized as I was starting to put data in, that I would much rather not input all transactions but just get the data from my bank.
Then I realized that this would be much better as a plugin for a ledger/budget balancer program, or for something like mint.com. And I kind of abandoned progress on it there, as I don't use mint, and I started looking at various programs to help me track money but realized that keeping a spreadsheet of "money at start of month, money at end of month", still works fine for me, and with some macros I can determine what I want to know.
So... for some one who does use these programs, would a plugin (or just a script on exported data) be worth it? Should I learn to use mint or gnucash or whatever for this?
I posted my app here last week and lots of people liked it: https://zetabee.com/cashflow/ - I use it for my personal expenses but you should be able to use it for a small business.
Neato. Feature suggestion: add a waterfall chart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_chart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_chart
$2000 in revenue a month and I'm 37 signals? I'm flattered :)
Please don't superscript the "1/2".
If you accidentally mouse down on the page and begin selecting things (I do this habitually), Chrome will begin scrolling right, and then you're unable to scroll back without doing the same in the inverse. Weird.
Meh. All I get is "37Signals?".
Yeah I don't really follow either.
if(revenue >= expenses && expenses != ''){
$("#time").html("<span class=\"white\">37</span>signals");This might explain it for you: http://www.quora.com/Is-37signals-a-lifestyle-company-Why
Oooooooh! I get it now. According to this death-clock, my larger than small but smaller than medium company that is making very good money is a lifestyle company, like 37signals is. Actually, that's true! But do me a favor, don't tell anyone that. Please don't tell my hard-working and talented employees, for whom I am very grateful. Please don't tell my friends and siblings or my vendors. Let's just keep this between you and I. Thanks!
Apparently since we're earning money, we're 37signals.
I'm working on a death clock right now. It's called the yearly budget for our non-profit grant funded project.
Is this an ad for 37Signals? They're the only startup with revenue exceeding expenses? I don't get it.
Haha this is hilarious! Reminds me of the death clock that was so popular forever ago - oh man, it's still alive and kicking! http://www.deathclock.com/. Wonder how much that guy made all these years.
If you type in enough 9's in the "cash on hand" slot, the "middle box" will get out of bounds. Should add some JS to make the fonts a bit smaller when there are too much symbols in the row ;)
I noticed this too but I figured if you have enough "9's" in the bank, you probably don't need to use a Startup Death Clock :)
I just amused myself by figuring out when rounding would kick in, I set the delta of cash in and cash out to 100 and put in 99.99 then just began appending 9's to the end until it switched from 'now' to 'one month' never has .000000000000009$ mattered so much.
We've been using a similar death clock in a spreadsheet, but it calculates the date that we go broke. Nothing to fire you up like impending doom!
Not sure why a break even company == 37signals though...
Not sure why a break even company == 37signals though...
200 revenue, 200 expense, 5 in bank == 37 signals?
o.O It says ours is dead "Now?" hah. nope money ain't the only factor.
If only it were this simple.
Please elaborate.
If you aren't making enough money to cover your expenses, and you have no cash on hand, how are you still in business?
If you aren't making enough money to cover your expenses, and you have no cash on hand, how are you still in business?
Because if you spend $100 a month and make $200 a month, you're profitable, but by no means living off that money (at least in the US).
Sure, but if you absolutely need to take a salary, why not just include that in the expenses?
Since when is paying yourself and your employees not an expense that factors into whether or not you are profitable?
Color.com
revenue: 0
expenses: $100k/mo (who knows, but let's err on high side)
cash: $41m
dead in: 34 years
nothing at all wrong with their raise. nothing at all.
revenue: 0
expenses: $100k/mo (who knows, but let's err on high side)
cash: $41m
dead in: 34 years
nothing at all wrong with their raise. nothing at all.
$100k/mo is high? They have 7 founders and a 400k domain name.. I bet they burn more than that.
Edited: I should add that yes, 100k/mo is high for a normal startup. :-)
Edited: I should add that yes, 100k/mo is high for a normal startup. :-)
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Is this another sign that we are entering a Web 2.0 bubble? You bet it is!
37 signals is sending an awesome message to the community; one that emphasizes that you don't need millions of funding and that net income is your #1 objective as a business owner. Make more money then you spend. End of story.
I love the message.
37 signals is sending an awesome message to the community; one that emphasizes that you don't need millions of funding and that net income is your #1 objective as a business owner. Make more money then you spend. End of story.
I love the message.
P.S. Little easter egg - Watch the clock as you plug in your numbers.