| Here are my favorites: Qualified Lead Velocity Rate (via Jason Lemkin) - http://saastr.com/2012/12/12/why-lead-velocity-rate-lvr-is-t... Are you able to sustainably grow qualified leads? Distribution and sales needs to be predictable (as Aaron Ross says) so that you can do it over and over, not just one-offs. Cohort Growth (via Armando Mann) - http://prezi.com/dyny1qyjsvri/acquisition-engine-draper-univ... Cohort Growth is being able to demonstrate that every so often you are increasing your ability to derive value from a set of customers (higher retention, more upsells, lower costs). Basically the second order of LTV. So those above are for B2B startups that are already growing. The basic metrics for B2B startups (e.g/i.e. SaaS) is LTV (lifetime value of customer), CAC (customer acquisition cost), retention/churn, revenue, virality coefficient (referral effectiveness), etc. All this being said, I wouldn't automatically discount all consumer startup metrics. A lot of metrics I learned from the casual gaming industry are just as relevant in b2b, just in a different flavor and numbers. |