What this guide helps you evaluate
SaaS founders comparing non-equity growth capital before a runway, acquisition or expansion decision.
This page is designed to help you compare the moving parts, organize due diligence and ask better questions before you commit money, sign a contract or change an operating process.
What to compare first
- Repayment basis: percentage of revenue versus scheduled debt service
- Dilution and warrants: whether equity-linked economics are part of the package
- Covenants and minimum liquidity requirements
- Cash-flow fit under flat, growing and declining MRR
- Prepayment rules, fees and total modeled cost of capital
Step-by-step process
- 01
Build a 24-month base, upside and downside MRR forecast.
- 02
Normalize gross margin, churn, CAC payback and current debt obligations.
- 03
Request term sheets in a common spreadsheet format rather than comparing headline rates.
- 04
Model monthly cash outflow under each structure and include fees, warrants and prepayment costs.
- 05
Stress-test the month with the lowest projected cash balance before choosing a structure.
Common mistakes and risk checks
- Treating a revenue share as cheap simply because there is no stated interest rate.
- Ignoring covenants, minimum payments or a lender's claim on cash receipts.
- Raising more debt than the company can service if growth slows.