2 Business Fundamentals

CTO Handbook · 4:52

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Lyrics

[Verse 1]
When the numbers tell the story of your company's way
P and L shows revenue minus what you pay
Cost of goods sold subtracted from the top
Gross margin tells you where the profits stop
Operating expenses take their daily bite
EBITDA shows earnings in the clearest light

[Chorus]
Money in and money out, cash is king without a doubt
Assets minus liabilities, that's your equity route
Burn rate tells you how you spend, runway shows when it will end
Business fundamentals, keep them close my friend

[Verse 2]
Balance sheet's a snapshot of what you own today
Assets on the left side, debts you have to pay
Liabilities and equity must balance on the right
Cash flow tracks the movement, day and night
SaaS metrics guide your software company's growth
ARR and MRR, subscription oath

[Chorus]
Money in and money out, cash is king without a doubt
Assets minus liabilities, that's your equity route
Burn rate tells you how you spend, runway shows when it will end
Business fundamentals, keep them close my friend

[Verse 3]
Churn rate shows the customers who walk away
LTV is lifetime value, CAC what you pay
Net revenue retention keeps existing clients growing
Unit economics tells you if your profit's showing
Technology costs as percentage of your sales
Benchmark against your stage, that never fails

[Bridge]
From seed to Series A, B, and C
Dilution shares your company
Due diligence checks your code so clean
Architecture reviews, the best you've seen
Board meetings need your tech narrative strong
IPO readiness takes you along

[Verse 4]
SaaS serves software in the cloud each day
Marketplaces connect in a two-sided way
APIs create platforms, ecosystems grow
Hardware plus software, embedded systems flow
Open source and licensing, community and core
Business models matter, that's what they're for

[Chorus]
Money in and money out, cash is king without a doubt
Assets minus liabilities, that's your equity route
Burn rate tells you how you spend, runway shows when it will end
Business fundamentals, keep them close my friend

[Outro]
Financial literacy and funding rounds
Business models, solid grounds
CTO curriculum, learn it well
These fundamentals have stories to tell

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