I'll never forget walking into that conference room for my first board meeting as CFO. I’d done some thorough examining and there was good news and bad news. The good news? We were selling products like gangbusters. The bad news? We were $2.5 million in the hole. 

As a fractional CFO, I see startups burn cash too fast all the time—not because founders are reckless, but because they're focused on growth and don't see the warning signs until it's almost too late.