Runway refers to the period of time that a startup can “survive” or continue operations based on its monthly cash burn and its cash in the bank. The shorter the runway a startup has, and the higher the burn it has, the more likely it is to go bankrupt. During periods of economic expansion, the burn rate a company has doesn’t matter as much as its growth rate, as investors are willing to fund companies that are growing exponentially. During periods of economic compression, investors are much more stringent on a company’s cash burn and growth rate, often suggesting that company’s conserve their cash and cut back on their growth plans to extend their runway. A company has an infinite runway when it surpasses the break even point—i.e. when its revenues exceed its expenses.