People are quantitative when they do their business planning. In this context cheap is when cash flow is running close to break-even or better. If you have emp

People are quantitative when they do their business planning. In this context cheap is when cash flow is running close to break-even or better. If you have employees without revenue, it's probably not cheap. If you'll need employees for an extended period before getting significant revenue, you'll need to figure out how to convince investors to open their wallets first.