Here’s a question every founder faces during fundraising: what if we raise $1M instead of $1.5M?

It sounds straightforward. But in a spreadsheet, answering it means duplicating your entire model, changing the funding round, adjusting the downstream hiring plan, recalculating runway, and then trying to compare two 14-tab spreadsheets side by side. Most founders either skip the exercise or do it in their head, which is worse.

Burncast now supports scenario modeling as a core feature. And it works differently from copying a spreadsheet.

Delta-based scenarios

Most tools treat scenarios as full copies. You duplicate everything, change a few numbers, and maintain two independent models. When your base plan changes – and it always changes – you have to update every scenario manually or accept that they’ve drifted.

Burncast uses delta-based scenarios. A scenario only stores what’s different from your base plan. Everything else stays linked.

Here’s what that means in practice. Say your base plan has a $1.5M SAFE (a funding agreement that converts to equity later), 8 engineering hires in year one, and 15% monthly revenue growth. You create a scenario called “Conservative raise” and change exactly two things: the SAFE drops to $1M, and you hire 6 engineers instead of 8.

That’s all the scenario contains – those two deltas. Revenue growth, expense assumptions, other team hires, everything else comes from your base plan. If you later update your base plan’s revenue growth from 15% to 12%, the conservative scenario automatically reflects that change. You don’t touch it.

Side-by-side comparison

A scenario isn’t useful unless you can see how it compares. Burncast shows scenario differences in two ways.

KPI comparison puts your key metrics side by side across scenarios. For the conservative raise example, you’d immediately see:

  • Runway: 14 months (base) vs. 11 months (conservative)
  • Month-18 headcount: 22 (base) vs. 18 (conservative)
  • Monthly burn at month 12: $187K (base) vs. $149K (conservative)

Overlay charts plot both scenarios on the same graph. Your cash balance over time shows two curves diverging from the same starting point, making the tradeoff visible at a glance. You can see exactly when the conservative scenario runs out of money relative to the base plan.

Why scenarios matter more than you think

Daniel Kahneman’s research on anchoring bias is relevant here. Once you build a financial model, that single set of numbers becomes your anchor. You start believing your plan is your business, not that it’s one possible version of your business.

Scenarios break the anchor. When you can see three versions of your future side by side, you stop thinking “we’ll have 14 months of runway” and start thinking “we’ll have 11 to 16 months of runway depending on how the raise goes.” That’s a more honest way to plan, and it leads to better decisions.

It also changes board conversations. Instead of presenting one plan and defending every assumption, you show three scenarios and discuss which assumptions drive the biggest differences. The conversation shifts from “is this number right” to “which risks should we prepare for.”

When to create scenarios

Not every decision needs a scenario. Here’s when they’re worth the two minutes it takes to set one up.

Fundraising decisions. Model different raise amounts, valuation terms, and round types. See how a $2M priced equity round at $8M pre-money valuation (the company’s value before the investment) compares to a $1.5M SAFE with a $10M cap.

Hiring pace. Your base plan hires 3 engineers in Q1. What if you wait until Q2? Create a scenario, shift the start dates, and see the impact on burn rate and runway.

Revenue uncertainty. You’re projecting 15% monthly growth, but you’ve only been at it for three months. Create scenarios at 10% and 20% to bracket the range and understand what each trajectory means for your cash position.

Economic downturns. Model a scenario where your sales cycle doubles and churn increases by 3 percentage points. How many months does that cost you? Do you need to cut somewhere to survive?

Try it

Scenario modeling is available now for all Burncast accounts. Open your financial model, click “New scenario,” and start changing assumptions. Your base plan stays intact, and you can compare as many scenarios as you need.

If you don’t have a Burncast account yet, sign up free and build your first financial model. You’ll have scenarios running in minutes.