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SaaS Metrics Deep Dive: NRR, Expansion MRR & Churn

Written by Harry Prabandham

Curated by Rubric Financial

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Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

  • NRR measures the revenue retained from existing customers over a period, including expansion and contraction, calculated as (Starting MRR + Expansion - Contraction - Churn) / Starting MRR
  • NRR above 100% means existing customers are growing faster than they're churning, enabling revenue growth even with zero new customer acquisition. The gold standard for SaaS is 120%+ NRR.
  • Investors weigh NRR heavily because it reflects product stickiness, pricing power, and the quality of your customer base simultaneously

About the author

Harry Prabandham

Founder & CEO

Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.

More articles by Harry

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