A startup is considered to be default dead if its committed revenues do not exceed its committed costs. Without external funding or a pivot to change the equation, such a startup is on a path to its death.

A default alive startup, on the other hand, can continue to live out its days without having to raise any external funding. Just doing what it's doing is enough. Although such startups might still choose to raise funding in order to scale.

A lot of our routines and our relationships tend to be either default dead or default alive. 

Without a change or an external intervention, the default dead ones are destined to wither away and die.

We need to recognise what those are and provide them our attention and energy in order to nurture them (external funding). 

Otherwise, we'll some day stop and wonder how we got here and where exactly things derailed.

It's never one moment.