Metric Overload

Founders often track dozens of metrics. Investors care about far fewer. Understanding which metrics matter at your stage helps you focus your dashboard and your pitch.

Pre-Seed / Seed Metrics

At this stage, investors are betting on potential. Key metrics:

Engagement Over Revenue

• Weekly/Daily Active Users: Are people actually using your product?
• Retention curves: Do they come back? (Crucial)
• Time in product: How much value are they getting?
• NPS / user feedback: What do users say?

Growth Indicators

• Week-over-week growth: 10-15% is strong for early stage
• Waitlist size: Evidence of demand
• Organic vs. paid acquisition: Is there natural pull?

Series A Metrics

Now investors want proof of product-market fit and a path to scale:

Revenue Metrics (B2B SaaS)

• ARR: $1-2M+ typically required
• MRR growth rate: 15-20% month-over-month is strong
• Net Revenue Retention: 100%+ shows expansion
• Gross margin: 70%+ for software

Unit Economics

• CAC: Cost to acquire a customer
• LTV: Lifetime value of a customer
• LTV/CAC ratio: 3x+ is healthy
• Payback period: Months to recover CAC (12-18 is good)

Efficiency

• Burn multiple: Net burn / Net new ARR (2x or better)
• Magic number: Net new ARR / S&M spend (0.75+ is efficient)

Series B+ Metrics

Growth stage investors want to see scalable, predictable growth:

• Rule of 40: Growth rate + profit margin ≥ 40%
• Sales efficiency: Consistent, repeatable process
• Market share: Position relative to competitors
• Cohort analysis: How do different customer segments perform?

Consumer / Marketplace Specifics

Consumer Apps

• DAU/MAU ratio: Stickiness (20%+ is good)
• Viral coefficient: K-factor > 1 means organic growth
• Session frequency: How often do users return?

Marketplaces

• GMV growth: Total transaction volume
• Take rate: Your cut of GMV
• Liquidity: Match rate between supply and demand
• Repeat rate: Do both sides come back?

Red Flag Metrics

Investors will dig into these warning signs:

• High churn: You're losing customers as fast as you gain them
• Declining growth rate: Growth is slowing without clear reason
• Negative unit economics: You lose money on each customer
• Concentration risk: Top customers = majority of revenue

VCMatch's Approach

Our AI extracts and analyzes your metrics to:

1. Benchmark against similar companies: How do you compare?
2. Identify metric gaps: What's missing that investors will ask about?
3. Match to investor preferences: Some VCs prioritize growth, others efficiency
4. Suggest improvements: Where should you focus before raising?

Know your numbers before investors ask. It builds credibility and saves time.