The Startup Finance Metrics Investors Actually Care About
Most founders don’t need help telling their story. They need help proving it.
You might have the pitch polished, the deck fine-tuned. You know your market, your growth rate, your TAM, SAM, SOM. But when the conversation shifts to metrics, the energy often changes.
Because investors aren’t just looking for big numbers. They’re listening for discipline. For coherence. For signals that the story and the data align.
So the question isn’t: What numbers make us look good?
It’s: What do smart investors actually care about and what do those numbers say about how we run this company?
Let’s break it down.
1. Net Burn and Runway
Do you know how much time you have left?
Every founder should be able to answer this in under 10 seconds. Not roughly. Not “about six months.” Not “we’re good for now.”
Net Burn = Monthly expenses – monthly revenue
This isn’t about impressing investors. It’s about proving you understand the cost of your ambition.
You don’t need to be profitable. But you do need to show you’re aware of the cliff.
2. MRR Growth and Quality
Are you growing, and is it real?
Investors love recurring revenue. But what they’re really looking for is momentum with durability.
Not all MRR is created equal. So break it down:
- New MRR – What’s being added monthly?
- Expansion MRR – Are existing customers upgrading?
- Churned MRR – Who’s leaving, and why?
This is where founders get tripped up. They focus on hitting a number, but investors are watching how you got there.
3. Gross Margin
Can your business actually scale?
Growth is charming. Margin is serious.
A 30% gross margin SaaS company and a 70% margin SaaS company have wildly different futures. Why? Because margin is what pays for everything else: sales, support, R&D, your next round of growth.
Gross Margin = (Revenue – COGS) ÷ Revenue
When margins are thin, investors start asking questions:
- Are we doing too much service work?
- Is the tech overbuilt?
- Are we supporting too much customisation?
Gross margin isn’t a stat, it’s a strategy. And in a market where capital is no longer cheap, efficient growth is the game.
4. Cohort Retention
Do your customers stick, grow, or vanish?
CAC tells you how much it costs to acquire a customer. But retention tells you whether it was worth it.
Good investors ask about retention early. Great ones dig into cohort analysis:
- Do customers acquired 6 months ago still pay?
- Are newer cohorts behaving better or worse?
- How long before a cohort breaks even?
Retention isn’t just a “product” metric. It’s the best proxy for value.
Most founders underinvest in this because it’s harder to track than top-line growth. Which is exactly why it matters.
5. Forecasting Maturity
Are you making guesses or making calls?
A forecast is not a prediction. It’s a reflection of how tightly your hand is on the wheel.
What investors look for isn’t just the numbers, but how they came together:
- Are they tied to real historicals?
- Are your assumptions defensible?
- Can you flex the model based on different scenarios?
A good forecast says: We don’t know the future, but we’ve done the work.
So, What Are Investors Really Asking?
They’re asking:
- Do you know your numbers?
- Do you know what they mean?
- And do your numbers match the story you’re telling?
Metrics don’t have to be perfect. But they should be honest.
And they should reflect intentionality, the sense that someone’s actually steering the ship, not just riding the current.
Final Thought: Build Like You’re Already Being Watched
You don’t wait to clean up your books until a fundraiser.
You don’t scramble to understand churn the night before a partner meeting.
You build financial literacy into your company as early as you build product discipline.
Because someday someone will ask: “How does this business actually work?”
And the answer isn’t a deck. It’s your numbers.
The Finlens Dashboard is built perfectly for you to track your numbers, so you are aware and confident at every Investment Pitch
