Burn rate

The rate at which a company spends money, especially venture capital funding, typically measured monthly and used to determine how long the company can operate before needing additional funding.

This term emerged from Silicon Valley venture capital culture in the 1990s during the dot-com boom. The metaphor of 'burning' money vividly captures how quickly startups can consume their funding, like a fire burning through fuel, and became especially prominent during discussions of failed dot-com companies.