Metrics we're watching post-PH (revenue isn't the first one)
· Avery NXR
Founders love talking about revenue. Investors ask about revenue first. Boards focus on revenue.
Revenue is a lagging indicator. If you're only watching revenue, you're watching your business decisions from 90 days ago.
Here's what we're actually watching post-PH — in the order of importance.
1. Activation rate (first agent built)
The single most important metric for us right now.
Definition: % of Free Desktop downloaders who configure and run their first agent within 7 days of install.
Why it matters: If someone installs Avery and doesn't build an agent, they've evaluated us as capability, not as solution. They'll churn silently. Every downstream metric (retention, upgrade, referral) depends on first-agent activation.
Current target: 40%. Aspirational target: 60%. Track weekly.
2. Time to first value
How fast does a new user experience real value?
Definition: Median time from download to "first-agent-completed-a-useful-run."
Why it matters: If time-to-value is 3 hours, we lose 80% of users. If it's 30 minutes, we lose 40%. The delta is enormous.
Current target: Median <60 minutes. Aspirational: Median <20 minutes. Track weekly.
If activation rate is low, this is usually the reason.
3. Day 7 retention
Are users returning after installation?
Definition: % of Day 1 users still active on Day 7.
Why it matters: Day 7 tells us if users found real value in the first week. Under 40% Day 7 retention = they didn't. Their download was a trial that didn't stick.
Current target: 50%. Aspirational: 65%. Track weekly.
4. Day 30 retention
The medium-term product-market fit signal.
Definition: % of Day 1 users still active on Day 30.
Why it matters: Day 30 tells us if users integrated Avery into their weekly workflow. This is the real PMF indicator.
Current target: 30%. Aspirational: 45%. Track monthly.
If Day 30 retention is low, revenue growth is impossible regardless of top-of-funnel investment.
5. Support tickets per user
How self-serve is the product?
Definition: Support tickets opened per active user per month.
Why it matters: High ticket volume = friction in the product. Low ticket volume = self-serve is working. Also predicts refund rate on AppSumo.
Current target: <0.3 tickets/user/month. Aspirational: <0.15. Track weekly.
6. Free → Pro conversion rate
The revenue engine.
Definition: % of Free Desktop users who upgrade to Pro within 90 days of install.
Why it matters: This is our monetization signal. Low conversion = we're a free tool, not a business.
Current target: 3%. Aspirational: 7% by end of Q4. Track monthly.
If activation and retention are healthy but this is low, our Pro tier value prop is unclear.
7. Average review score (post-AppSumo)
Public sentiment tracker.
Definition: Weighted average across AppSumo, PH, G2, TrustPilot, Google, Twitter.
Why it matters: Public sentiment shapes acquisition cost. Below 4.3 average = paid acquisition gets expensive. Above 4.7 = organic word-of-mouth carries growth.
Current target: 4.5 across platforms. Aspirational: 4.7. Track continuously.
8. Number of published community templates
Marketplace vitality.
Definition: Count of user-published templates in the marketplace.
Why it matters: More templates = more use cases visible = more customer acquisition. Ecosystem strength.
Current target (by Month 6): 100 community templates. Aspirational: 250 by Month 6. Track weekly.
9. AppSumo refund rate
Only relevant after Week 12 launch.
Definition: % of AppSumo LTD buyers who request refund within 60-day window.
Why it matters: Below 10% = healthy. 10-15% = concerning. Above 15% = risk of AppSumo removing us from platform. Above 20% = definitely gets removed.
Target: <10%. Aspirational: <5%. Track daily during 60-day refund window.
10. MRR (the classic)
Revenue. Yes, we track it. It's #10 for a reason.
Definition: Monthly recurring revenue from Pro + Enterprise subscriptions.
Why it matters: It matters. But it's a LAGGING metric. If activation, retention, and conversion are healthy, MRR follows. If MRR is bad but the leading metrics are good, MRR will fix itself. If MRR is bad AND leading metrics are bad, something is fundamentally wrong.
Current target: [FILL IN internal] Aspirational: [FILL IN internal] Track weekly.
Why revenue is #10
Investor conversations always start with "what's your MRR?"
That question is legitimate. MRR is important. But if you optimize FOR MRR without optimizing FOR activation + retention, you're building on sand.
Optimize for activation. MRR follows. Optimize for MRR. Activation stalls, then MRR stalls.
The order of these 10 metrics is the order of levers you can pull. Revenue is the last lever because it's the last metric to move.
What we do with these numbers
Every Monday, the team reviews the top 5 metrics (activation, TTV, Day 7, Day 30, tickets).
Every month, we review all 10.
If any metric is red for 3 consecutive weeks, we do a root-cause analysis and ship a fix within the next sprint.
We publish these numbers publicly every Friday (or with a delay if there's competitive sensitivity). Publishing forces honesty. Silent metrics get gamed. Public metrics get worked on.
For founders wondering what to track
If you're overwhelmed by dashboard options — track these 5:
- Activation rate
- Time to first value
- Day 7 retention
- Day 30 retention
- Support tickets per user
If these 5 are healthy, everything downstream (retention, upsell, revenue) follows.
If these 5 are unhealthy, no amount of top-of-funnel investment saves you.
Track leading indicators. Fix them fast. Let revenue emerge.
→ avery.software — public metrics dashboard live in Q3.