Read the original at Lenny’s Newsletter ↗lennysnewsletter.com · subscriber post
By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn
Lenny Rachitsky answers a reader's question about which metrics early-stage bottom-up SaaS founders should track beyond MRR, which tools they use, and how they visualize results. He draws on crowdsourced input and founder conversations to build a prioritized list split into pre-revenue, post-revenue, and supplementary metrics, plus a look at popular dashboard tools.
Subscriber post — summary only01Key takeaways
- Retention metrics such as user, logo, and L7/L30 retention rank as the top priority for early-stage bottom-up SaaS.
- Virality within an organization, measured through invite rates and virality factor, is a core growth signal before revenue arrives.
- Founders don't need to track everything at once; start with a few metrics and expand over time.
- Google Sheets was the most common dashboard tool among surveyed founders, followed by ProfitWell and Google Data Studio.
02Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.