10 KPIs every CEO should know
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Every month, I work with dozens of CEOs who are trying to understand what is happening with their business
The best CEOs that I work with have quick insight into what matters, allowing them to act FAST
1️⃣ Cash Burn
Cash is king - your whole business revolves around it
Understanding how much your spending, and how that spend will be affected by certain actions, can add tremendous value to your decision making
2️⃣ Cash Out Date
Startups typically post losses every month with the intention of raising capital at higher valuations
But what happens if you are taken by surprise?
you can be left with a real delicate situation…
Causing you to have to raise / borrow capital at unfavorable terms
Or even worse…you may go out of business 😱
3️⃣ Cash in the bank
Noticing a trend here? Cash is king!
Understand everything there is about it
4️⃣ Monthly Recurring Revenue
After you master everything there is to know about your cash, it’s time to master everything there is to know about what contributes / withdraws from that cash
Your sales is what brings cash in the door, and is often times what investors value the most
Understand not only your Monthly Recurring Revenue, but also how much new MRR, Lost MRR, and Expansion / Contraction MRR taking place each month
5️⃣ Monthly Headcount Expense
Your headcount expense will be the biggest expense each month, and the hardest to control - get a grip on it before it’s too late!
6️⃣ Budget Attainment
How do you know if your forecast is credible?
By preparing a budget vs actuals each month
From there, you can see where you were on point, and when you need to reforecast with different assumptions
7️⃣ Gross Margin
Your Gross Profit is an important metric - it allows you to understand how much money you can invest in your business after you deliver your revenue
You can be making a billion dollars in revenue...if it costs you a billion + 1 dollars to generate that, you don’t have a business
8️⃣ Churn
Churn is like a virus that can spread if not treated quickly
Find out why your customers are churning, and do everything you can to prevent more of it
9️⃣ Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Sales is cool…but not if it takes you more money in Sales & Marketing to acquire a customer
Once you understand your CAC, you can do all sorts of cool analysis like CAC Payback, IE calculating how long it takes you to earn back your CAC
🔟 Lifetime Value
Similar to the above, it’s not enough to understand how much you’re earning
When you understand how much in lifetime value customers are worth, you can invest in the right Sales & Marketing channels
Those are my top 10 KPIs every CEO should know