72 — Revenue Metrics
Status: CANONICAL · Commercial OS — wins every metric-definition conflict
Owner: Founder (RevOps hat)
Last verified: 2026-07-21
Purpose
The company's revenue metric dictionary and dashboard spec: one definition per metric, one owner, one cadence. Marketing (73), sales (74), and CS (75) metrics roll up here; when definitions conflict, this file wins.
Target audience: Founder, future finance/RevOps hire, board/investors.
1. The North Star & The Tree
North star: Approved Twin Actions per active seat per week (ATA/seat/wk). Why: it's the one number that proves the category claim — humans and Twins actually collaborating on governed work. Revenue follows it: activation predicts retention, retention carries NRR, NRR carries the model.
ARR
├── New ARR ← pipeline × win rate × ACV [74 Sales]
├── Expansion ARR ← NRR vectors V1/V2/V3 [46 Expansion, 75 CS]
└── Churned ARR ← GRR, health, renewal plays [47 Renewal, 75 CS]
all three ← activation ← ATA/seat/wk ← onboarding [45]
pipeline ← demand engines [73 Marketing]
2. Canonical Definitions (the dictionary)
| Metric | Definition (exact) | Target (2027 steady-state) |
|---|---|---|
| ARR | Annualized committed subscription revenue (excl. one-time add-ons 31 §3); design-partner discounts at realized value | per 77 plan |
| New ARR | First-order-form ARR from net-new logos | — |
| Expansion ARR | Net positive change in existing-customer ARR (seats + tiers + benches) | ≥ 40% of gross new ARR by end-2027 |
| NRR | Cohort ARR now ÷ cohort ARR 12 mo ago, churn included, logo-constant | ≥ 120% |
| GRR | Same, expansions excluded | ≥ 92% |
| ACV | Total contract value ÷ years | Land ~$10K · blended ~$22K |
| CAC | Fully-loaded S&M cost ÷ new logos (founder time priced at market salary — no free-founder illusions) | < $8K blended |
| CAC payback | CAC ÷ (ACV × gross margin ÷ 12) | < 6 months |
| LTV/CAC | (ACV × GM × avg lifetime yrs) ÷ CAC | ≥ 4x |
| Gross margin | (Revenue − COGS: infra + AI inference + connector infra) ÷ revenue (FINANCIAL_MODEL §2) | ≥ 97% |
| Activated seat | ≥ 5 approved Twin actions and ≥ 4 workbench-first mornings in one week (45 §3) | ≥ 70% of seats by day 30 |
| ATA/seat/wk | Approved Twin actions (memory + execution approvals) ÷ active seats, weekly | ≥ 8 at maturity (5 = activation floor) |
| Pipeline coverage | Open qualified pipeline $ ÷ next-quarter new-ARR target | ≥ 3x |
Anti-vanity rules: signups, page views, and connector counts never appear on the revenue dashboard · design-partner cohort reported separately from standard cohort (discounted ARR would flatter NRR) · every metric reported with its denominator visible.
3. The Dashboard & Cadence
Weekly (founder, 30 min — the Friday ritual 37): ATA/seat/wk trend · pipeline coverage · stage conversions vs. [36 §2] targets · activation of live onboardings.
Monthly: full tree — ARR bridge (new/expansion/churn) · NRR/GRR cohorts · CAC & payback · health-classified renewal forecast (47 §5).
Quarterly (board-grade): cohort curves · unit economics vs. FINANCIAL_MODEL assumptions (variance explained, model updated — the model is a living document) · phase-gate status (50 §2).
Tooling honesty: at our stage this is a spreadsheet + CRM reports, maintained ruthlessly. The discipline is the tool. (And per Customer Zero: our own revenue workbench, as soon as the product can carry it — 44 §1.)
KPIs of the metrics system itself: definition-drift incidents = 0 · dashboard shipped on cadence 100% · every board number traceable to this dictionary · forecast accuracy ±15% by mid-2027.
Related: 73 Marketing · 74 Sales · 75 CS · 77 Annual Plan · FINANCIAL_MODEL: ../../product/FINANCIAL_MODEL.md