8 crucial KPIs you should track for your startup

Introduction

Are you a book lover?

Well, think about the last book you couldn’t put down. It wasn’t just the number of pages or the genre that hooked you, right? It was the characters you grew attached to, the unexpected plot twists, and the emotions that kept you turning pages. That deeper connection is exactly what you want with your startup metrics. Numbers are nothing without the full story they reveal. Try to think of it that way, and you’ll see that each KPI in your startup gives you insight into different aspects of your business. So, in this blog, we’ll explain more about the KPIs that will help you read between the lines and get a clear picture of your startup’s performance.

Of course, you are aware that startup success isn’t guaranteed, even with a fantastic idea and a hardworking team. Sometimes, the crucial factor separating a successful venture from a failed one is understanding and monitoring the right metrics. Neglecting these key indicators could mean missing out on essential insights that could guide your startup toward growth and success.

Understanding the success of your teams and products is essential to making wise business decisions, and measuring the appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) provides you with this knowledge.

If you’re new to KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and need a primer, check out our previous blog post: The Role That KPIs, Metrics, and Analytics Play in Growth. It’s a great resource to get you up to speed.

Finish with that? Now you’re ready for this. ??

Key metrics to track for startups

In this guide, we’ll break down eight crucial KPIs every startup should track: Activation Rate, Burn Rate, Cash Runway, Customer Churn Rate, DAU/MAU Ratio, Revenue Growth Rate, Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), and Annual Run Rate (ARR). Each of these metrics provides valuable insights into different aspects of your business, from user engagement to financial health.

We’ll explore what each metric measures, why it’s important, how to calculate it, and the pros and cons associated with it. By understanding these numbers, you’ll have a clearer picture of your startup’s health and be able to make better decisions as you move forward.

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1. Activation Rate?

What It Measures: Activation Rate measures the percentage of new users who take a key action that indicates they have realized value from your product. This key action could be anything from completing an onboarding process to using a core feature.

Why It Matters for Startups: A high Activation Rate signifies that users are quickly experiencing the value of your product, which is crucial for retention and long-term growth. It’s a sign that your onboarding process and initial user experience are effective.

How to Calculate:

Activation Rate = (Number of users who completed onboarding / Total number of new users) × 100

Example: If 200 out of 500 new users completed the onboarding process, the formula is:

Activation Rate = (200 ÷ 500) × 100 = 40%

?Pros:

• User Engagement Insight: Shows how well users are engaging with your product right from the start.
• Onboarding Effectiveness: Helps assess the effectiveness of your onboarding process.

Cons:

• Context-Specific: The key action might vary by product, so it’s important to ensure it aligns with your overall goals.

Not a Full Picture: Does not provide insights into ongoing user engagement or satisfaction.

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2. Burn Rate

What It Measures: Burn Rate refers to the rate at which a startup is spending its capital before reaching profitability. It’s crucial to understand how long your startup can continue operating at its current expenditure levels.

Why It Matters for Startups: Managing Burn Rate is essential for maintaining financial health. A high burn rate means you’re spending quickly, which could be risky if revenue isn’t increasing at a comparable rate.

How to Calculate: To calculate the Burn Rate, subtract the total monthly expenses from the total monthly revenue.

Burn Rate = Monthly Expenses – Monthly Revenue

Example: If your monthly expenses are $50,000 and your monthly revenue is $10,000, then:

Burn Rate = $50,000 – $10,000 = $40,000

Pros:

• Financial Planning: Helps in budgeting and forecasting how long your current capital will last.
• Cost Management: Identifies whether you need to cut costs or find additional funding.

Cons:

• Short-Term Focus: A high burn rate might not always reflect the potential for future revenue growth.
• Not a Standalone Metric: Should be considered alongside other financial metrics for a comprehensive view.

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3. Cash Runway

What It Measures: Cash Runway is the amount of time a startup can continue to operate before it runs out of cash, based on its current burn rate.

Why It Matters for Startups: Understanding your Cash Runway helps you gauge how much time you have to reach profitability or secure additional funding. It’s critical for avoiding cash flow crises.

How to Calculate: To calculate Cash Runway, divide your total cash reserves by your monthly burn rate.

Cash Runway = Cash Reserves / Burn Rate

Example: If you have $200,000 in cash reserves and a burn rate of $40,000:

Cash Runway = $200,000 / $40,000 = 5 months

Pros:

• Funding Planning: Helps in planning for future funding needs or cost adjustments.
• Survival Forecast: Provides a clear picture of how long you can sustain current operations.

Cons:

• Assumption of Stability: Assumes your burn rate and cash reserves will remain constant.
• Not a Performance Metric: Focuses on financial sustainability rather than growth or user engagement.

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4. Customer Churn Rate

What It Measures: Customer Churn Rate measures the percentage of customers who stop using your product or service over a given period.

Why It Matters for Startups: A high churn rate indicates that customers are not finding long-term value in your product, which could signal issues with retention or product fit. Reducing churn is crucial for growth and sustainability.

How to Calculate: To calculate the Customer Churn Rate, divide the number of customers lost during a period by the number of customers at the start of that period, and multiply by 100.

Churn Rate = (Customers Lost ÷ Total Customers) × 100

Example: If you start with 1,000 customers and lose 50 over a month:

Churn Rate = (50 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 5%

?Pros:

• Retention Insight: Provides insight into customer satisfaction and the effectiveness of retention strategies.
• Growth Indicator: Lower churn rates can indicate successful customer engagement and product-market fit.

Cons:

• Short-Term Focus: High churn rates may not immediately reflect underlying issues.
• Varied Causes: Churn can result from various factors, so it’s important to analyze the reasons behind it.

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5. DAU/MAU Ratio

What It Measures: The DAU/MAU Ratio compares Daily Active Users (DAU) to Monthly Active Users (MAU) to gauge how frequently users engage with your product on a daily basis compared to monthly.

Why It Matters for Startups: A high DAU/MAU Ratio indicates strong user engagement and product stickiness. It shows that a significant portion of your monthly users are interacting with your product daily, which is a positive sign of user retention.

How to Calculate: To calculate the DAU/MAU Ratio, divide the number of daily active users by the number of monthly active users, and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

DAU/MAU Ratio = (DAUs ÷ MAUs) × 100

Example: If you have 2,500 DAUs and 15,000 MAUs:

DAU/MAU Ratio = (2,500 ÷ 15,000) × 100 = 16.67%

Pros:

• Engagement Indicator: Helps understand user engagement levels and product stickiness.
• Retention Measurement: Provides insight into how often users return to your product.

Cons:

• Lacks Depth: Doesn’t provide details on user satisfaction or reasons for engagement.
• Benchmark Variability: Different industries and products have different benchmarks, so context is key.

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6. Revenue Growth Rate

What It Measures: Revenue Growth Rate measures the percentage increase in revenue from one period to the next, reflecting how quickly your business is growing financially.

Why It Matters for Startups: Tracking the Revenue Growth Rate is essential for understanding your startup’s financial health and scaling potential. It’s a key metric for investors and helps in assessing the effectiveness of your growth strategies.

How to Calculate:

To calculate the Revenue Growth Rate, subtract the previous period’s revenue from the current period’s revenue, divide by the previous period’s revenue, and multiply by 100.

Example: If your revenue grows from $2,000 in August? to $4,800 in September

Pros:

• Growth Tracking: Shows how quickly your revenue is increasing, which can attract investors.
• Strategic Insight: Helps evaluate the effectiveness of growth strategies.

Cons:

• Early Stage Volatility: Rapid early growth may not be sustainable, and longer-term trends are more reliable.
• Short-Term Focus: Short-term fluctuations can be misleading; long-term trends offer a clearer picture.

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7. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

What It Measures: MRR represents the total predictable revenue your startup can expect to generate each month from recurring subscriptions or contracts.

Why It Matters for Startups: MRR is vital for financial planning and forecasting in subscription-based businesses. It provides a steady view of your revenue and helps in managing cash flow and assessing growth.

How to Calculate: To calculate MRR, multiply the number of active subscribers by the average revenue per subscriber per month.

Example: If you have 150 subscribers each paying $30 per month:

MRR = 150 × 30 = $4 ,500

Pros:

• Predictability: Offers a clear view of expected monthly revenue.
• Growth Measurement: Tracks changes in recurring revenue

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8. Annual Run Rate (ARR)

What It Measures: ARR indicates the total revenue your startup can expect to generate over a year based on current subscription rates or contracts.

Why It Matters for Startups: ARR is crucial for long-term financial planning and gives you a broader perspective on revenue trends. It helps in evaluating the sustainability and growth potential of your business over a longer period.

How to Calculate: To calculate ARR, multiply your MRR by 12.

Example: If your MRR is $4,500: ARR = $4,500 × 12 = $54,000

Pros:

• Long-Term View: Provides insight into annual revenue, aiding in long-term planning.
• Financial Stability: Helps assess the stability and predictability of your revenue stream over a year.

If MRR varies each month, you can still calculate ARR, but you’ll need to take an average of the monthly MRR to get a more accurate annual projection. Here’s how you can handle this:

How to Calculate:

1. Calculate the average MRR: Sum up the MRR for each month over a year and then divide by the number of months.
2. Multiply by 12: Use the average MRR to estimate ARR.

By averaging the monthly MRR, you account for fluctuations and get a realistic annual projection.

Exploring the broader spectrum of KPIs

While the eight KPIs we’ve discussed provide a solid foundation for understanding your startup’s performance, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

Startups often track a variety of other key performance indicators tailored to different aspects of their business. For instance:

• Marketing Metrics: Tracking metrics like Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and conversion rates can reveal how effective your marketing efforts are and where you might need to adjust your strategies.
• Content Metrics: Understanding how well your content is performing can be crucial for growth. Metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and social shares can help you gauge the impact of your content and its role in driving user interest and conversion.
• Financial Metrics: Beyond MRR and ARR, metrics like Gross Margin, Net Profit Margin, and Burn Multiple offer deeper insights into your startup’s financial health and efficiency.

Finding your balance

Honestly, no single KPI guarantees success on its own. Each KPI comes with its pros and cons, and their relevance can shift depending on factors like team dynamics, budget, and the quality of your product or service. However, KPIs are crucial in helping you forecast and navigate your company’s direction. Especially for startups, understanding and tracking these metrics from the very beginning is really important. It enables you to focus your efforts, allocate resources effectively, and make informed decisions about where to direct your energy for the best outcomes.

And if you missed our Monthly Spotlight with Dragana, the CEO and Co-founder of Solveo, who talks about KPIs and why they matter, you can catch up on the full interview here. Dragana shares valuable insights into how KPIs can shape your startup’s success and the key metrics every founder should be tracking.

So, start exploring more about these metrics, apply them to your strategy, and enjoy the story your startup tells as it grows—just like that unforgettable book you couldn’t put down. ??

And don’t miss checking out our Launch with AI Program if you’re in the early stages of growth and want to learn more about KPIs. It is crafted by growth experts with experience working with over 500 startups!?