Metrics Dashboard Template

Board-Ready Startup Metrics

Purpose: VCs measure money, not uptime. This dashboard shows what investors actually care about.

The Priority Stack

RETENTION > REVENUE > GROWTH

Why this order?

• Retention: Proves you solve real pain (can you KEEP customers?)
• Revenue: Proves unit economics work (is it PROFITABLE?)
• Growth: Proves scalability (can it GET BIGGER?)

VCs invest in retention first. Growth without retention = leaky bucket.

Core Metrics (Track These Weekly)

1. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

What it is: Predictable monthly revenue from subscriptions

How to calculate:

MRR = # of customers × average revenue per customer per month

Example:

• 10 customers × $500/mo = $5,000 MRR

Target:

• Pre-seed: $5K-$10K MRR
• Seed: $50K-$100K MRR
• Series A: $100K-$300K MRR

Dashboard:

MRR: $________
MoM Growth: ____%
Last Month: $________

2. MRR Growth Rate (Month-over-Month)

What it is: How fast you're growing

How to calculate:

MoM Growth % = (This Month MRR - Last Month MRR) / Last Month MRR × 100

Example:

• Last month: $10K MRR
• This month: $11.5K MRR
• Growth: ($11.5K - $10K) / $10K × 100 = 15% MoM

Target:

• Good: 10-15% MoM
• Great: 15-20% MoM
• Exceptional: 20%+ MoM

Dashboard:

MoM Growth: ____%
3-month avg: ____%
Trend: ▴ / ▸ / ▾

3. Logo Retention (Customer Retention Rate)

What it is: % of customers who renew

How to calculate:

Logo Retention = (Customers at end of period / Customers at start) × 100

Example:

• Start: 100 customers
• End: 95 customers (5 churned)
• Logo Retention: 95%

Target:

• Minimum: 80% annual
• Good: 90% annual
• Exceptional: 95%+ annual

Dashboard:

Logo Retention: ____%
Churned this month: ___
Churn reasons:

4. Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

What it is: Revenue retention including expansions and contractions

How to calculate:

NRR = (Starting MRR + Expansions - Contractions - Churn) / Starting MRR × 100

Example:

• Starting MRR: $100K
• Expansions: $20K (upsells)
• Contractions: $5K (downgrades)
• Churn: $10K (cancellations)
• NRR: ($100K + $20K - $5K - $10K) / $100K × 100 = 105%

Target:

• Minimum: 100% (growth without new customers)
• Good: 110-120%
• Exceptional: 120%+ (e.g., Snowflake at 158%)

Dashboard:

NRR: ____%
Expansions: $________
Contractions: $________
Churn: $________

5. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

What it is: Cost to acquire one customer

How to calculate:

CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Spend / # of New Customers

Example:

• Sales & marketing spend: $10K/mo
• New customers: 10/mo
• CAC: $1,000 per customer

Target: Varies by business model

• PLG (Product-Led Growth): $100-$500
• Sales-Led (SMB): $500-$2,000
• Enterprise: $5,000-$50,000+

Dashboard:

CAC: $________
Payback Period: ___ months
Trend: ▴ / ▸ / ▾

6. Lifetime Value (LTV)

What it is: Total revenue from a customer over their lifetime

How to calculate:

LTV = ARPA × Gross Margin % / Monthly Churn Rate

Example:

• ARPA: $500/mo
• Gross margin: 80%
• Monthly churn: 2%
• LTV: $500 × 80% / 2% = $20,000

Target:

LTV:CAC ratio ≥ 3:1 (healthy unit economics)

Dashboard:

LTV: $________
LTV:CAC Ratio: ___:1
Target: ≥ 3:1

7. Burn Multiple

What it is: Efficiency metric (how much you burn to grow $1 of ARR)

How to calculate:

Burn Multiple = Net Burn / Net New ARR

Example:

• Monthly burn: $50K
• Net new ARR this month: $10K × 12 = $120K/year
• Burn Multiple: $50K × 12 / $120K = 5.0x

Target:

• Exceptional: <1.5x (growing efficiently)
• Good: 1.5-2.5x
• Acceptable: 2.5-3.5x
• Concerning: >3.5x (burning too much)

Dashboard:

Burn Multiple: ___x
Monthly Burn: $________
Net New ARR: $________
Runway: ___ months

Secondary Metrics (Track Monthly)

8. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA)

ARPA = Total MRR / # of Customers

9. Customer Lifetime (Avg)

Avg Lifetime = 1 / Monthly Churn Rate

10. Gross Margin

Gross Margin % = (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue × 100

Target: 70-80% for SaaS

11. Magic Number

Magic Number = Net New ARR (quarter) / Sales & Marketing Spend (prior quarter)

Target: >0.75 (efficient growth)

Dashboard Template

═══════════════════════════════════════════════
              STARTUP METRICS DASHBOARD
                  [MONTH YEAR]
═══════════════════════════════════════════════

REVENUE METRICS
───────────────────────────────────────────────
MRR:                    $________  (▴ ___% MoM)
ARR:                    $________
ARPA:                   $________

GROWTH METRICS
───────────────────────────────────────────────
MoM Growth:             ____%
New Customers:          ___
Lost Customers:         ___
Net New:                ___

RETENTION METRICS (🔴 MOST IMPORTANT)
───────────────────────────────────────────────
Logo Retention:         ____%  (Target: 90%+)
Net Revenue Retention:  ____%  (Target: 100%+)
Monthly Churn:          ____%

UNIT ECONOMICS
───────────────────────────────────────────────
CAC:                    $________
LTV:                    $________
LTV:CAC Ratio:          ___:1  (Target: ≥3:1)
Payback Period:         ___ months
Gross Margin:           ____%

EFFICIENCY
───────────────────────────────────────────────
Burn Multiple:          ___x  (Target: <2.5x)
Monthly Burn:           $________
Runway:                 ___ months
Magic Number:           ____

TOP 3 WINS THIS MONTH
───────────────────────────────────────────────
1.
2.
3.

TOP 3 CONCERNS
───────────────────────────────────────────────
1.
2.
3.

NEXT MONTH GOALS
───────────────────────────────────────────────
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]

How to Use This Dashboard

Weekly Review (Monday Morning)

• Update MRR, customers, churn
• Calculate MoM growth
• Flag any red flags (churn spike, CAC increase)

Monthly Board Update

• Full dashboard with all metrics
• 3-month trends (are we improving?)
• Top 3 wins + top 3 concerns
• Next month goals

Quarterly Deep Dive

• Cohort analysis (how are earlier customers doing?)
• Channel performance (which channels have best CAC?)
• Customer segmentation (who's our best ICP?)
• Unit economics forecast (will we be profitable?)

Red Flags to Watch

🔴 Critical (Fix Immediately)

• Retention <80%: Product doesn't solve real pain
• LTV:CAC <3:1: Unsustainable unit economics
• Burn Multiple >3.5x: Burning too much to grow
• Runway <6 months: Start fundraising NOW

⚠️ Warning (Monitor Closely)

• Flat MoM growth: Growth stalling
• Increasing CAC: Channels saturating
• Decreasing ARPA: Wrong customers or discounting
• Churn spike: Something broke

Green Flags (You're Winning)

✅ Strong Signals

• Retention >90%: Product is sticky
• NRR >110%: Customers expanding
• LTV:CAC >5:1: Exceptional unit economics
• Burn Multiple <1.5x: Efficient growth
• MoM >15%: Healthy growth rate

Tools for Tracking

Spreadsheets (Start Here)

• Google Sheets: Free, simple, everyone knows how to use it
• Template: Copy the dashboard above

SaaS Tools (When You Scale)

• ChartMogul: Subscription analytics
• Baremetrics: MRR metrics for Stripe
• ProfitWell: Free retention metrics
• Geckoboard: Dashboard visualization

When to Upgrade

• Spreadsheet: 0-20 customers, <$10K MRR
• SaaS tool: 20+ customers, >$10K MRR

Resources

• Lenny's Newsletter: Growth metrics deep dives
• SaaS Metrics 2.0 by David Skok: The canonical guide
• Andreessen Horowitz: 16 startup metrics blog post

Download all 12 templates: sanscourier.ai/qconsf-2025

*From the QCon SF 2025 talk: "From Staff Platform Engineer to a16z Founder: What I Wish I'd Known" by Gonzalo (Glo) Maldonado*