saas-metrics-diligence

Business

Analyze SaaS and usage-based metrics for diligence: NDR/NRR, gross margin, CAC payback, sales efficiency, cohorts, and unit economics by segment. Use when diligencing B2B SaaS or infra companies.

QUICK START

How to use this skill

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Prompt to paste

I want to install this Agent Skill for this project in Codex.

Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/blob/HEAD/skills/business/saas-metrics-diligence/SKILL.md

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SaaS metrics diligence

When to use

Use this skill when:

Diligencing B2B SaaS, PLG, or usage-based businesses
You need to translate raw metrics into an investment view
You want to detect metric illusions (cohort mixing, accounting artifacts)

Inputs you should request (only if missing)

Revenue metrics: ARR/MRR by month (12–24 months)
Customer counts and logos (by cohort if possible)
Gross margin (and what’s included in COGS)
Sales & marketing spend (and headcount)
Churn/expansion data by cohort
Pricing and ACV distribution

Outputs you must produce

Metrics readout (1–2 pages)
Cohort/retention assessment (what’s driving NDR)
Unit economics summary (CAC payback, efficiency)
Questions/risks (ranked) + recommended next data

Templates:

assets/metrics-readout.md
assets/metrics-worksheet.csv

Procedure

1) Normalize definitions (do not assume)

Write down:

What counts as “revenue” (bookings vs recognized)
Whether NDR is logo-weighted or revenue-weighted
Whether gross margin includes hosting, support, etc.

2) Retention: start with cohorts

Compute:

Gross revenue retention (GRR) if possible
Net dollar retention (NDR/NRR) by cohort and by segment

Look for:

expansion vs churn drivers
segment mix effects (beware Simpson’s paradox)
“one whale” distorting NDR

3) Efficiency and payback

Compute:

CAC payback (on a gross margin basis)
Sales efficiency / magic number (if you use it)
Contribution margin (if available)

Check:

whether growth is cash-efficient at current payback
whether payback is improving or worsening

4) Pricing and ACV distribution

Identify ACV bands
Evaluate whether the product supports expansion (seat-based, usage-based, tier upgrades)
Check whether pricing matches perceived value

5) Produce an investment-grade interpretation

Translate metrics into:

“Is this repeatable?” (cohorts + pipeline)
“Is this durable?” (retention + switching costs)
“Is this capital-efficient?” (payback + margins)
“What breaks at scale?” (support costs, infra costs, sales cycle)

References

Tomasz Tunguz’s public writing is a useful mental model set for NDR, payback, and SaaS efficiency metrics.

Salesforce logging (optional)

If your Opportunity has metric fields:

Update NDR, GRR, GM, payback, etc. Otherwise:
Attach the metrics readout as a File/Note to the Opportunity.

Edge cases

If data is messy: request raw exports and define one source of truth.
If NDR is high but churn is hidden: insist on cohort-level GRR and logo churn.