The burn rate is not a number—it is a mirror.

Burn rate reveals far more than financial discipline or recklessness. It is the clearest expression of what a venture believes it is becoming—and what it is willing to sacrifice to get there.

Burn rate is often treated as a technical metric. It is calculated, tracked, optimized. It tells us how much capital is being consumed over time. But that number—whether high or low—carries no inherent meaning on its own. What it truly reflects is not spending. It reflects orientation. The shape of desire. The clarity of direction. And most of all, the intensity of belief.