Default Alive
topic on 2 shows · 6 statements across 4 episodes
the Y Combinator Startup Podcast 
the Official SaaStr Podcast
6 statements about Default Alive, every show
Strict 'default alive' goals can cause startups to underinvest and stagnate
“If you're planning to be default alive, which is a great goal, it might, depending on your situation, lead you to under-invest in, in product and R&D, sales and marketing. So the consequence of that might be that you that you sort of, you don't fail quickly, b…”
Hariharan: Startups with $5M-$10M in ARR should be default alive
“I usually say if you have hit five to ten million ARR, you cannot get killed. You should be default alive.”
Janz: Startups unable to become default alive should target becoming default investable
“If you can't become default alive, then try to become default investable”
Caldwell: 'Default alive' means reaching profitability before cash runs out
“Default alive is different than profitable. Profitable means today I make enough money that I am profitable. My bank account grows every month. Are you so with me? Default alive means I may be burning money today, but my growth rate is high enough on revenue t…”
Caldwell: A startup is strictly either default alive or default dead
“And his point is, this is a binary. Either you are default alive or you are not default alive, thus defaulted. There's no third option here, friends.”