The Hard Truth About Zero-Based Budgeting

A few months ago, the Senior Leadership Team at Ninety completed an intense, quarter-long exercise: our first zero-based budgeting review.

It was brutal.

For those unfamiliar, zero-based budgeting isn’t just about cutting costs. It’s about wiping the slate clean and rebuilding only what’s essential. Instead of tweaking existing expenses, we start from zero, just as if we were launching the company today. Along the way, we ask ourselves questions like:

• What do we actually need?
• Which roles are mission-critical?
• Are we structuring the company for growth or just continuing with outdated decisions?

On paper, it’s a brilliant process: clarifying, strategic, precise. But in practice? It’s hard. Because at its core, zero-based budgeting isn’t just about numbers.

It’s about people.

The People Problem

Founders love our people. We fight for them. We build alongside them. They’re not just employees — they’re the heartbeat of the company.

But zero-based budgeting forces a brutal truth into focus. Eventually, all leaders will realize some Seats no longer make sense. Some incredible, loyal, hard-working people may no longer be the right fit.

And the hardest part? Most of them won’t fit into the new structure we actually need.

This is why many founders avoid zero-based budgeting altogether. It’s easier to carry inefficiencies forward than to threaten high-trust relationships.

Even when we know structural change is necessary… Even when logic demands action… Emotion makes us hesitate.

But avoiding the hard call doesn’t serve the company. And in the long run, it doesn’t serve the people, either.

The Founder’s Dilemma

At the end of our zero-based budgeting process, we stood at a crossroads: Several roles had evolved beyond necessity. Some positions no longer aligned with our vision. And others had been created to solve problems that no longer existed.

In these moments, founders have two obligations: 

• To the company: The business must be built for the long haul, not for today's comfort. The right structure ensures sustainability, efficiency, and long-term growth.
• To the people: Those affected deserve honesty, respect, and a path forward. Leadership isn’t about avoiding discomfort; it’s about handling it with integrity and empathy.

This isn’t about being ruthless. It’s about being responsible.

Founders who refuse to make these tough calls don’t just weaken the company. They weaken the very people they’re trying to protect. I believe everyone should do Work that matters, even if that means saying goodbye to people they deeply care about.

Why Zero-Based Budgeting Matters Now More Than Ever

Fast-growing companies inherit all kinds of inefficiencies. Roles are created to solve temporary problems. Legacy structures persist simply because no one questions them. And resources are allocated based on yesterday’s assumptions.

Zero-based budgeting forces a radical level of honesty:

• Are we spending where it truly matters?
• Are we keeping roles out of necessity, not out of habit?
• Are we willing to rebuild, limiting attachment to the past?

And, most importantly…

• Are we courageous enough to act on what we find?

For us, the process was painful, but it was necessary. And it reinforced a lesson all great founders must learn: Hard decisions don’t get easier. But avoiding them makes everything worse.

The Question Every Founder Must Ask

Zero-based budgeting isn’t just a budgeting exercise. It’s a discipline, a leadership test, a mirror that forces us to see our company as it really is.

Because the ultimate question is this: If we were building this company from scratch today, would we build it this way? If the answer is no, you have work to do. And the longer you wait, the harder it gets.