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You are needlessly missing the point. GP is referring to a tradeoff between cost and survival time, a continuum.

Obviously businesses and individuals cannot really reduce costs all the way to 0.

The point is that you need to count time spent by the founders as an expense. Roughly somewhere between 15-20k per month per founder. Even if you're surviving by eating ramen in your parents basement there's still an opportunity cost from not having a job. You have to account for it.

I’d argue that most people absolutely should not account for it. There’s enough to stress out about when trying to get your startup off the ground. The idea that your “spending” 2Ok a month due to opportunity cost is not helpful and probably likely to lead to burnout. On the other hand, saving a little money and knowing you’ve extended your runway an extra 3 months can be very helpful.

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