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Early-stage bottom-up SaaS founders – this thread is for you
Below
Most important metrics to track
Tools to track these metrics
How to best visualize and share these metrics
Below
Most important metrics to track Tools to track these metrics How to best visualize and share these metrics
1/ What metrics should early-stage bottom-up SaaS founders focus on?
Pre-revenue
1. Retention:
User: % of new users who are still active 3-6 months later
Logo: % of new companies who are still active 3-6 months later
L7/L30: # of days that users are active
What metrics should early-stage bottom-up SaaS founders focus on? Pre-revenue 1. Retention:
User: % of new users who are still active 3-6 months later Logo: % of new companies who are still active 3-6 months later L7/L30: # of days that users are active
2/ Virality within an organization:
Invite rate: % of new users who sent at least one invite in the first X days
Invite conversion rate: % of users who receive an invite that sign-up in the next X days
Virality factor: % of new users who have come from an invite
Invite rate: % of new users who sent at least one invite in the first X days Invite conversion rate: % of users who receive an invite that sign-up in the next X days Virality factor: % of new users who have come from an invite
3/ Top-of-funnel growth:
Traffic: Visits to site/week
MoM new user growth: Month over month growth rate in total users
Activation: % new users who “activate”, whatever that means for your product
Traffic: Visits to site/week MoM new user growth: Month over month growth rate in total users Activation: % new users who “activate”, whatever that means for your product
4/ 
Post-revenue:
1. Revenue growth
MRR: MoM MRR growth
ARR: MoM ARR growth
New customers: New customers/week
2. Retention
Customer: % of new paying customers who are still customers 3-6 months later
Net Dollar Retention: MRR of each cohort at 12 months
Post-revenue:1. Revenue growth
MRR: MoM MRR growth ARR: MoM ARR growth New customers: New customers/week2. Retention
Customer: % of new paying customers who are still customers 3-6 months later Net Dollar Retention: MRR of each cohort at 12 months
5/ 3. Monetization
Paid company conversion: % of free companies that convert to paid within X days
Payback period: Average time to pay back CAC
Gross margins: Net sales revenue minus the cost of goods sold
Paid company conversion: % of free companies that convert to paid within X days Payback period: Average time to pay back CAC Gross margins: Net sales revenue minus the cost of goods sold
6/ 
Additional metrics to track and have available:
1. Engagement
DAU/MAU
Key actions per day/week (e.g. tasks created, pics sent)
Average time spent/user/day
Additional metrics to track and have available:1. Engagement
DAU/MAU Key actions per day/week (e.g. tasks created, pics sent) Average time spent/user/day
7/ 2. Virality within an organization
Invite volume: When an invite was sent, median number of invites sent per user
Velocity of virality: Median days from 1 —> N seats at a company
Traction: Number of total companies with at least 3 users signed-up
Invite volume: When an invite was sent, median number of invites sent per user Velocity of virality: Median days from 1 —> N seats at a company Traction: Number of total companies with at least 3 users signed-up
8/ 3. Monetization
ARPU: Average revenue per user
User conversion: % of free users that convert to paid within X days
Quick ratio: (New MRR + Expansion MRR) / (Contraction MRR + Churned MRR)
Growth spend efficiency: CAC/LTV
ARPU: Average revenue per user User conversion: % of free users that convert to paid within X days Quick ratio: (New MRR + Expansion MRR) / (Contraction MRR + Churned MRR) Growth spend efficiency: CAC/LTV
9/ 4. Funnel conversion
Landing conversion: % visitors click CTA
Activation: % visitors who “activate”, whatever that means for your product
% visitors complete your sign-up flow
% visitors signup
Landing conversion: % visitors click CTA Activation: % visitors who “activate”, whatever that means for your product % visitors complete your sign-up flow % visitors signup
10/ What tool do founders use to track their metrics AND How do they visualize and share these metrics?
1. Google Sheets
https://twitter.com/craigzingerline/status/1312218315423653888?s=20
https://twitter.com/garrett_wj/status/1312422060845608966?s=20
https://twitter.com/lwcassid/status/1312218477629849600 https://twitter.com/JerocelleDGR/status/1315629374691930114?s=20
What tool do founders use to track their metrics AND How do they visualize and share these metrics?1. Google Sheets
https://twitter.com/craigzingerline/status/1312218315423653888?s=20
https://twitter.com/garrett_wj/status/1312422060845608966?s=20
https://twitter.com/lwcassid/status/1312218477629849600 https://twitter.com/JerocelleDGR/status/1315629374691930114?s=20
11/ 2. Profitwell https://twitter.com/jimmymackin/status/1312136225080270848
12/ 3. Google Data Studio https://twitter.com/NoubarTedjirian/status/1312428038521581568
13/ Other: Mixpanel, Looker, Tableau, Anaplan, Causal, Slack https://twitter.com/JustDilley/status/1312155733308305409?s=20
14/ For much more, check out this week's post https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/the-most-important-bottom-up-saas-69d
