Absolutely. This should also be on the list of questions you should ask before you go to work at a startup. You probably wouldn't ask these on a first interview, but as you get close to the offer stage asking questions about money in the bank, burn rate, cash out date and such are fair game.

If the company will not answer those questions, that in itself is useful data for guiding your decision making. :)

I get that one should ask before they interview to determine their risk.

But what about if you're already working at the company? Should you periodically ask this information or should founders be sharing it?

Management should be sharing it with you at least quarterly if not monthly. Typically, I've seen it done the day after or the Friday after the most recent Board meeting.

I think it varies in terms of what companies do, but I loved having this visibility at Twilio from our CEO while I was there so I brought the practice with me at Mattermark. It always made me feel like I had a better understanding of the trade-offs we were making and level of risk, and I hope it brings the same feelings and thoughts to my team.

Can you give any indication of how this info was shared? Was it a presentation every quarter? A quick email every month?

Part of the company all-hands on a monthly basis