To be eligible for VC funding, a startup must either be profitable or capable of producing metrics that a VC will fund. Metrics that are attractive to VCs include 100% year over year growth, gross margins of at least 50%, net dollar attention of at least 100%, cact payback of 12 to 18 months, and a burn multiple of one and a half or less. Startups that are not experiencing fast growth may need to shift their mindset and think more like a PE funded private equity company, cutting burn to become cash-positive. Most startups in the current startup world are facing challenges and are in the danger zone.