Read the original at Lenny’s Newsletter ↗lennysnewsletter.com · subscriber post
By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn
Lenny Rachitsky crowdsources and researches which metrics early-stage bottom-up SaaS founders should track, before and after revenue, and which tools and dashboards teams use to visualize them. The post ranks core metrics such as retention, virality, top-of-funnel growth, and monetization, and notes that Google Sheets is the most common tracking tool. It also mixes in job listings and recommended reading as housekeeping.
Subscriber post — summary only01Key takeaways
- Prioritize retention metrics first, both user-level and logo-level, measured over a 3-6 month window.
- Pre-revenue founders should track invite rate, virality factor, and activation to gauge organic spread.
- Post-revenue, watch net dollar retention, payback period, and paid conversion alongside MRR growth.
- Google Sheets, often paired with Data Studio or Profitwell, is the most common dashboard approach among founders.
- Start with a handful of metrics rather than tracking everything, then expand as the business matures.
02Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.