What is cash flow?
Cash flow is the net amount of cash and cash equivalents moving into and out of a business during a period. The cash flow statement — one of the three core financial statements — segments cash flows into operating, investing and financing activities.
For startups, cash flow analysis is more diagnostic than the P&L: a company can be profit-positive on paper while running out of cash due to AR collection delays, inventory growth or capex. Burn rate, runway and operating cash flow are the most-watched cash metrics in venture investing.