Blog
In-depth product metrics guides: formulas, industry benchmarks, real-world application. Every post includes an interactive calculator.
A 30-second unit-economics audit
How to run your unit economics through a calculator in half a minute: pull values from a spreadsheet, get LTV, CAC, LTV:CAC, Payback and benchmarks at once — no Excel formulas.
Forecast SaaS metrics without Excel — a 6–24 month projection
How to forecast MRR, ARR and growth without spreadsheets: set the current value and rate, see the 6–24 month curve, and check whether the path to $1M ARR is realistic.
How to reduce Churn in SaaS — 7 levers and 2026 benchmarks
Churn Rate = lost customers / base over a period. Benchmarks for SMB/Mid-market/Enterprise, why 1pp of churn doubles CAC, and 7 proven levers to cut it.
NPS benchmarks 2026 — what counts as a good Net Promoter Score
NPS = % promoters − % detractors. A scale from −100 to +100, industry benchmarks for SaaS/B2C/fintech, and why the absolute NPS number means almost nothing without context.
DAU/MAU Stickiness — how "sticky" your product really is
Stickiness = DAU / MAU × 100%. What 20% vs 50% means, benchmarks by product type (social, SaaS, utilities), and why high stickiness matters more than MAU growth.
Gross Margin in SaaS — why 80% is the standard and what goes into COGS
Gross Margin = (Revenue − COGS) / Revenue. Why SaaS norms are 75-85%, what to include in COGS, and how margin affects Rule of 40, CAC Payback and valuation.
Burn Multiple — the SaaS investor's #1 metric in 2026
What Burn Multiple (David Sacks) is, how to calculate it, benchmarks for seed / Series A / B+, and why it replaced Magic Number in VC pipelines after the ZIRP era.
Rule of 40 — why 40% is the magic number for SaaS
A deep dive into the Rule of 40 (Brad Feld, 2015) — how to calculate it, why 40%, the benchmark for public vs private SaaS in 2026, and how to reach the top decile (>60%).
LTV vs CAC — a step-by-step guide to startup unit economics
How to correctly calculate LTV and CAC, what ratio is healthy (3:1, 5:1), and why even a healthy LTV:CAC doesn't mean a healthy business without the right payback.
10 metrics every product manager should track in 2026
The 10 metrics every PM in B2B SaaS and B2C should know by heart — from Activation to NRR. With formulas, benchmarks and interactive calculators.
SaaS Quick Ratio (Mamoon Hamid) — growth durability in 30 seconds
The formula Quick Ratio = (New + Expansion MRR) / (Churn + Contraction MRR). What >4× means in SaaS, and why Sequoia uses it as a first screening filter.
Magic Number — Sales & Marketing efficiency in a single figure
Magic Number = (Net New ARR × 4) / S&M spend. The Scale Venture Partners formula, benchmarks, and when to hire sales vs optimize the funnel.
NRR vs GRR — what separates a $10B from a $100M SaaS company
Net Revenue Retention vs Gross Revenue Retention — formulas, top-decile benchmarks (>130%), and why NRR is the strongest indicator of product-market fit.
Sales Velocity — the B2B revenue speed formula and 4 growth levers
Sales Velocity = (Opps × ACV × Win Rate) / Cycle Length. The key B2B sales-team metric, and how to accelerate it through each of the 4 factors in the formula.
Runway calculator — when to fundraise in 2026
Runway = Cash / Net Burn. How many months a company has left. When to start fundraising (≥9 months), what to do at <6 months, and how to extend runway without external capital.
MRR Growth Rate — why YC looks for 5-7% MoM
MRR Growth Rate = MoM growth of subscription revenue. The Y Combinator 5-7%/mo standard, the T2D3 model, and 5 levers to accelerate growth.
CAC Payback Period — why it matters more than LTV:CAC for cash management
CAC Payback = CAC / (MRR × Gross Margin). Benchmarks of 12-18 months for SaaS, and why a long payback kills companies even with a healthy LTV:CAC.
ARPDAU — the key metric for mobile F2P games, 2026 benchmarks
ARPDAU = Daily Revenue / DAU. Free-to-play norm $0.05-$5, premium $0.5-$20. What separates hyper-casual from RPG in monetization.
AOV — 5 levers to grow average order value in e-commerce
Average Order Value = Revenue / Orders. Benchmarks by segment, and how to raise AOV through bundles, upsell, a free-shipping threshold, cross-sell and premium tiers.
Pipeline Coverage — why 3-4× is the standard and how to maintain it
Pipeline Coverage = Pipeline Value / Quota. The B2B SaaS norm is 3-4×, <2× is critical. How to maintain coverage through inbound + outbound + ABM.