Give to get (a dope hat)!
For the next 25 readers who submit their results… I’d like to send you a ‘Mostly Metrics’ or ‘Run the Numbers’ Ciele branded running hat 🧢
Just reply back to this email with a screen shot of the survey’s “completed” screen and I’ll put one in the mail for you (well, my lovely wife will, because I’m not too good at packaging up stuff and I hate waiting in line at the post office).
It’s Time for the Q3 Private Company Benchmarks
The best source for private company SaaS metrics
“Pre runs that third lap hard”
Anyone who’s ever tried to run a timed mile before knows that of the four laps, the third, not the first, is the farthest from the finish line.
The author John L. Parker captures this reality in my favorite book, Once a Runner:
“It was a long, cruel lap with no distinguishing feature save the fact that it had to be run. Every miler knows, in the way a sailor knows the middle of the ocean, that it is not the first lap but the third that is farthest from the finish line.
Races are won or lost here, records broken or forfeited to history, careers made or ended.
The third lap was a microcosm, not of life, but of the Bad Times, the times to be gotten through, the no-toys-at- Christmas, sittin'-at-the-bus-station- at-midnight blues times to look back on and try to laugh about or just forget.
The third lap was to be endured and endured and endured.”
For those operating companies on a four quarter cycle, the parallels are uncanny. You can substitute the word “lap” for “quarter” and it reads the same.
The third quarter has no distinguishing feature, save the fact that it has to be run. Yet, it’s where companies either maintain their momentum to close the year strong, or fall off pace and make the fourth quarter’s goal’s unattainable.
What better way to check progress than some benchmarking?
For those of you who missed it, here’s a link to Q2’s results (full PDF download for paying members).
What we cover
In each report, we span revenue, cost structure, and SaaS metrics. And do our best to filter by ARR band and deal size (ACV) when appropriate.
I. Sales Efficiency
ARR Growth by Stage
Retention (by ARR & ACV)
CAC Payback (by ARR & ACV)
Sales vs. Marketing Spend Mix
II. Staffing & Talent Strategy•
Headcount Growth by Stage
Department Mix
Revenue per Employee
III. Cost Structure & Efficiency
Gross Margin (by ARR & Company Type)
Spend as % of Revenue
Burn Multiple
Rule of 40
Got a metric you want to add? Just ask. Seriously. Reply back to this email.
How Submissions Work
While the output is robust, we’ve kept the submission form short—it takes ~4 minutes (seriously, it’s not gonna break your brain).
It’s literally 8 questions.
You’ll enter basic inputs.
And we’ll calculate all outputs and any compound metrics (like CAC Payback and Burn Multiple) for you.
Everything is anonymized. No company names. No sketchy tracking. Just signal.
