KPIs for sales growth ARR growth is a good way to see whether companies have hit their inflexion point, but some companies hit the inflexion point before it’s reflected in the ARR Deeper metrics • Velocity of increase in pilots (bottom of the funnel pipeline) • When pilots are running: how engaged is customer and how quickly does software spread • Positive conversations with existing clients on software • How quickly leads are growing • How well and fast SQL (Sales Qualified Leads) are closing • How well products are upselling to existing customers Series A Series B Focus Focus • Market, competition, unfair advantage Velocity of growth Considerations • Reasonable CAC payback period of 12 months for average SaaS compa- Velocity of growth nies • Sometimes investors make a “ve- • Enough data to analyse how reten- locity bet” = if growth is there, they tion and churn is performing; Healthy trust in the founder to be the rest customer base? Scalability of the business Considerations • Market, competition, unfair advantage Source: Kristina Shen, Bessemer Venture Partners 45