Startup Glossary
A complete library of terms, metrics, and calculations for your startup.
All Metrics
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) is the amount of predictable revenue your business earns in a year from customers.
Revenue Run Rate
Revenue run rate is a projection of your annual revenue based on revenue generated in a previous period.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
MQLs are leads vetted and qualified by the marketing team—whether that is done manually or automatically.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
An SQL is a lead that has been vetted and is highly interested in purchasing your product or service.
Downgrade MRR
Downgrade MRR is the amount of MRR lost due to customers paying less in subscription costs than the previous month.
Customer Retention Cost
Customer Retention Cost (CRC) is the total cost of retaining a customer.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
ARPU is the average monthly recurring revenue (MRR) per user.
Revenue Retention
Revenue retention is the percentage of your revenue that is retained over a given period of time.
Negative Churn
Negative churn is when new revenue from existing customers (expansion MRR) is greater than the amount of revenue you lost from cancellations and downgrades (churned MRR).
Leads
A lead is a person who has a potential interest in your product or service.
Operating Profit
Operating profit is a company’s earnings after deducting operating expenses and Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). It’s also known as EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes).
Gross Profit
Gross profit is a company’s earnings after deducting the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).