# Money milestones for a startup > Startup milestones measured in money, a ladder of sums you can check in the bank: which bill each milestone covers, what it changes in the founders’ week and which work can wait. - Course: [From Idea to Profitable Product: Building Without Investors](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product.md) - Module: Before you start - Lesson 4/30, ~30 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/money-milestones ## Startup milestones you can check in the bank **Alex Tutor:** Back with GarageDesk's founders, whom you're advising alongside me. The plan is set, so now we need a way to measure progress: startup milestones that a self-funded business can actually check. **Sofia:** Nina has handed in her notice, and Oscar's evenings are in the calendar. How will they know they're getting somewhere? **Alex Tutor:** By money, not by how busy they feel. I'd draw them a ladder of **money milestones**: points where the product's income covers one more real bill. Each rung is a sum you can check in the bank, and each one changes what their week should be about. ![A ladder leans against a small car repair garage; on its rungs, bottom to top, sit one coin, a small stack of coins, a house key and two pay envelopes.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/money-milestones-illustration-2.webp) *Measure progress by money that arrives, not by how busy the week feels.* **Oscar:** So what's our first rung? The demo already works. **Alex Tutor:** The first payment. Not a demo, not “sounds great, call me”: one shop paying 600 UAH because GarageDesk fixes a real problem. > **Exercise:** Seven shop owners watch the demo and say “sounds great, call me”. **True or false:** that's the first money milestone. ## The GarageDesk ladder: from first payment to salaries **Alex Tutor:** Second rung: 4 shops. 4 × 600 = 2,400 UAH covers the 2,000 of hosting and tools, so the product stops costing you money. **Alex Tutor:** Third: 50 shops, 30,000 UAH, Nina's living costs; her runway stops counting down. Fourth: 84 shops, 50,000 UAH, both of you plus tools. That's **ramen profitability** for two. **Nina:** And after that? **Alex Tutor:** About 250 shops, 150,000 UAH a month: proper salaries for both of you plus costs. The last rung isn't a sum: the business runs for a month without either of you. ![GarageDesk's rungs: first payment, 4 shops for tools, 50 for Nina, 84 for both founders (ramen profitability), about 250 for salaries, then a month without them.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/diagrams/m1-l4-money-ladder.png) *Each rung is a bill the product covers.* > **Exercise:** GarageDesk charges 600 UAH per shop a month. Which bill do 50 paying shops cover? **Oscar:** My 30 shops isn't on the ladder. **Alex Tutor:** It's your personal trigger, between the second and third rungs. Milestones describe the business; triggers are each founder's own decision points. **Alex Tutor:** Let's make sure the difference between the two is clear. > **Exercise:** GarageDesk's ladder of money milestones has rungs at 1 shop, 4 (tools), 50 (Nina's living costs), 84 (both founders plus tools) and about 250 (salaries). Oscar plans to quit his job at 30 paying shops, since 30 × 600 UAH covers his 18,000 UAH share of the family budget. Where do his 30 shops fit in GarageDesk's plan? **Sofia:** And if a bill grows? Say the tools get more expensive. **Alex Tutor:** Then the rung moves. Divide the new bill by the price and round **up**: 5.8 shops don't pay a bill, 6 do. > **Exercise:** Tools rise to 3,500 UAH a month. How many shops at 600 UAH cover them? **Alex Tutor:** A bill can move a rung, and so can the price. Try it on the biggest rung so far. > **Exercise:** Suppose GarageDesk charged **700 UAH** per shop a month instead of 600. Ramen profitability for both founders still needs 50,000 UAH a month. How many paying shops is that rung now? ## What each startup stage changes in the week **Sofia:** Why does the rung matter? The work is always the same: build and sell. **Alex Tutor:** It isn't. Before the first payment, the week is conversations and asking shops to pay; code mostly waits. Up to 50 shops, it's making sales repeatable and fixing what early customers trip over. **Alex Tutor:** Past 84, the risk is knowledge that lives only in Nina's head and support that eats Oscar's evenings. Near the last rung, the work is writing things down and handing them over. **Nina:** So my mobile app for car owners… **Alex Tutor:** Belongs to a rung you haven't reached. Park it. The mirror mistake is spending as if you were three rungs higher, like hiring before anyone pays. ![In a garage, a mechanic works on a real car in the bay while a shiny toy car sits under a dust cover in a far corner.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/money-milestones-illustration-3.webp) > **Exercise:** GarageDesk has 90 paying shops. **True or false:** the founders' week should now go mostly to writing things down and getting support help. **Alex Tutor:** GarageDesk still has no paying shops. Which week would you pick for Nina? > **Exercise:** GarageDesk hasn't had its first payment yet. Which plan for Nina's next week fits the rung they're on? ## A good December **Nina:** Fine, the app waits. What does a good December look like for me? **Alex Tutor:** One that gets you to the first rung, or close to it. The next two modules are exactly that: one shop and one problem, then one request to pay. **Sofia:** Can I draft the plan for her? **Alex Tutor:** Go ahead. Make every goal something she can check on December 31. > **Exercise:** Write Nina's December plan in 3–5 sentences. GarageDesk has no paying shops. Every goal must be checkable on December 31. ## Meet ClinicSlot: the whole module in one case **Sofia:** Can I try the whole module on another start? **Alex Tutor:** Yes. Meet **ClinicSlot** in Kharkiv: booking and reminders for small dental clinics. Hannah, a developer, wants to go full time; Leo keeps his clinic job. Seven clinic managers say they'd try it, nobody has paid yet, and an investor has just made an offer. **Oscar:** Sounds like us a month ago. **Alex Tutor:** It does. This time you advise them on your own: decide the funding, count Hannah's runway and draw their ladder in clinics. Show your numbers. > **Exercise:** Advise the ClinicSlot founders. > **Key ideas** > > - **Money milestones** measure progress by bills the product covers, not by months or effort. > - GarageDesk: first payment → 4 shops (tools) → 50 (Nina, 30,000 UAH) → 84 (both founders, 50,000) → about 250 (salaries, 150,000) → a month without the founders. > - Shops for a rung = the bill / the price, rounded **up**. > - Each rung changes the week; don't skip its work or spend as if you were higher. **Alex Tutor:** Next module: the road to the first rung starts with one repair shop and one problem it already pays for. - Previous lesson: [How much money do you need to quit your job?](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/personal-runway.md) - Next lesson: [Customer pain points they already pay for](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/a-problem-they-already-pay-for.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.