Startup metrics
Know the numbers that actually matter.
Clear explanations, formulas, examples, and practical context for the metrics behind SaaS and startup economics.
Startup Metric
MRR: Monthly Recurring Revenue
What MRR means, how to calculate it, what belongs in recurring revenue, and how founders should use it.
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ARR: Annual Recurring Revenue
How ARR works, how to calculate it from recurring revenue, and when ARR is more useful than MRR.
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CAC: Customer Acquisition Cost
How to calculate customer acquisition cost and use it to understand marketing and sales efficiency.
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LTV: Customer Lifetime Value
A practical explanation of customer lifetime value, its formulas, assumptions, and relationship to CAC.
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Churn Rate
How customer and revenue churn work, how to calculate them, and why retention changes SaaS economics.
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ARPU: Average Revenue Per User
How to calculate ARPU and use it to understand pricing, customer mix, and revenue growth.
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Burn Rate
How much cash a startup consumes, how to calculate burn, and how burn affects runway.
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Startup Runway
How to calculate runway from cash and burn rate and how founders should interpret the result.
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Gross Margin
How gross margin works for SaaS and software businesses and why infrastructure and AI costs matter.
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Use the IndieFounder calculators for MRR, ARR, LTV, runway, and pricing scenarios.
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