Metrics & Performance
SaaS Metrics
The standard set of KPIs used to evaluate software-as-a-service business performance.
SaaS metrics are the standardized measurements used to evaluate software subscription businesses. Key metrics include ARR/MRR (revenue), NRR (retention quality), CAC/LTV (unit economics), CAC payback period (efficiency), gross margin (business model quality), logo churn vs. revenue churn (customer health), and magic number (sales efficiency). VCs expect SaaS companies to track and report these metrics consistently.
In Practice
A Series A SaaS company reports: $3M ARR, 120% NRR, 3.5x LTV:CAC, 12-month CAC payback, 82% gross margin, 5% annual logo churn. These metrics collectively signal strong product-market fit and efficient growth.
Why It Matters
Standardized SaaS metrics allow meaningful comparison across companies and stages. VCs who invest in SaaS evaluate these metrics with specific benchmarks for each funding stage.
Related Concepts
Further Reading
Common Angel Investing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The most costly mistakes angel investors make — from insufficient diversification and ignoring terms to falling in love with founders and skipping reference checks. Plus how to avoid each one.
Follow-On Strategy for Angel Investors: When to Double Down
How to think about follow-on investments in your angel portfolio — pro-rata rights, signaling risks, reserve allocation, metrics to evaluate, and when it's smarter to walk away.
How to Evaluate a Startup as an Angel Investor
A practical framework for assessing pre-seed and seed startups — covering team, market, traction, business model, and terms. Plus the red flags that experienced angels never ignore.
When Should a Startup Raise Venture Capital?
Not every startup should raise VC. The timing, market signals, and traction benchmarks that indicate you're ready — plus the honest case for when bootstrapping is the smarter path.
What Does a VC Analyst Actually Do?
The real day-to-day of a VC analyst: deal sourcing, due diligence memos, partner meetings, portfolio support, and what the compensation actually looks like.
What a Series A Process Actually Looks Like
The Series A is where fundraising gets real — partner meetings, deep diligence, and term sheet negotiations. Here's a realistic week-by-week breakdown of what to expect.
Newsletter
The VC Beast Brief
Join thousands of founders and investors. Every Tuesday.
VentureKit
Ready to launch your fund?