What is the most important metric for a startup?

For most B2B SaaS startups, MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) is the primary KPI once you have paying customers. Pre-revenue, use Weekly Active Users (WAU) as your north star. The key is picking one metric the whole team aligns around.

How many metrics should a startup track?

Start with one primary KPI and 2–3 supporting metrics. If MRR is your primary metric, good supporting metrics are new customer acquisition rate, churn rate, and expansion revenue. More than 5 metrics in your weekly review usually means you're diluting focus.

What's the difference between vanity metrics and actionable metrics?

Vanity metrics look good but don't drive decisions — total registered users, page views, social followers. Actionable metrics directly connect to business outcomes and help you decide what to do next — activation rate, revenue per customer, CAC payback period.

Startup metrics

Startup metrics guide

A practical, opinionated guide to the metrics that actually matter for early-stage B2B SaaS startups.

Most founders track too many metrics. They build sprawling dashboards full of vanity numbers, then wonder why nobody on the team can explain what’s working. The fix is simple: pick one primary metric, then use a small set of supporting metrics to understand what drives it.

The one metric that matters

Your startup needs one primary KPI that the entire team rallies around. For most B2B SaaS companies, this is:

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) — if you have paying customers
WAU (Weekly Active Users) — if you’re pre-revenue

Everything else is a supporting metric. Secondary metrics explain why your primary KPI is moving — they don’t compete with it for attention.

Vanity metrics vs actionable metrics

A useful test: if a metric can’t change your next decision, stop tracking it.

Vanity (feels good, drives nothing)	Actionable (drives decisions)
Total registered users	Weekly active users
Page views	Activation rate
App downloads	Revenue per customer
Social media followers	Customer acquisition cost

Your metrics evolve with your stage

The right metrics depend on where you are. Founders waste enormous effort optimizing CAC before they have product-market fit, or obsessing over engagement when they should be driving revenue.

Pre-PMF: Track engagement and learning velocity. Ignore revenue metrics — they’re misleading when you’re still iterating on the product.
Post-PMF: Shift to MRR and unit economics. Prove the model works before scaling.
Scale: Focus on efficiency — NRR, burn multiple, and channel-level CAC.

See the full breakdown in metrics by stage.

Common mistakes

Tracking too many metrics. If your weekly review covers more than 5 metrics, you’re diluting focus. Start with your primary KPI and 2–3 supporting metrics.

Focusing on absolute numbers instead of rates. “We have 500 users” means nothing. “We’re growing 15% week-over-week” tells you if the trajectory is working.

Skipping cohort analysis. Aggregate metrics hide problems. Your overall retention might look flat while newer cohorts are actually performing much worse — a sign that a recent change broke something.

Measuring outputs instead of outcomes. “We shipped 12 features” isn’t a metric. “Feature X increased activation rate by 8 points” is.

How to use this guide

Start with metrics by stage to figure out what to focus on right now
Dive into the specific metric categories for formulas, benchmarks, and practical guidance
Use the cheat sheet as a quick reference
Read tracking and implementation when you’re ready to set up your measurement stack

Try this in Basedash

Show me MRR growth over the past 12 months, broken down by new, expansion, and churned revenue

Basedash connects to your database, Stripe, and 50+ other data sources to calculate these metrics automatically with AI.

Get started free →

Frequently asked questions

What is the most important metric for a startup?: For most B2B SaaS startups, MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) is the primary KPI once you have paying customers. Pre-revenue, use Weekly Active Users (WAU) as your north star. The key is picking one metric the whole team aligns around.
How many metrics should a startup track?: Start with one primary KPI and 2–3 supporting metrics. If MRR is your primary metric, good supporting metrics are new customer acquisition rate, churn rate, and expansion revenue. More than 5 metrics in your weekly review usually means you're diluting focus.
What's the difference between vanity metrics and actionable metrics?: Vanity metrics look good but don't drive decisions — total registered users, page views, social followers. Actionable metrics directly connect to business outcomes and help you decide what to do next — activation rate, revenue per customer, CAC payback period.