What metrics should you include in a board-ready unit economics dashboard, and in what order?

Brief

Gold standard: ARR → Magic Number → CAC:ARR → NRR → Burn Multiple → Rule of 40. Add segment breakdown (self-serve vs. SMB vs. enterprise). One-page PDF, updated monthly.

Detail

Board dashboards often overwhelm with 20+ metrics. Here's the operator's unit economics stack that satisfies investor due diligence:

Tier 1: Top of Funnel (what you'll grow to)

• ARR: Total annual recurring revenue (absolute number)
• ARR Growth %: Quarterly or YoY growth rate (target >40% for growth-stage)
• Net New ARR: Bookings minus churn (the real story)

Tier 2: Efficiency (how you're getting there)

• Magic Number: New ARR ÷ prior quarter S&M (target >1.0)
• CAC:ARR Ratio: Segment-level (self-serve 0.15-0.3, SMB 0.4-0.6, enterprise 0.8-1.2)
• CAC Payback: Months to recover; flag if >12 months

Tier 3: Expansion (staying power)

• NRR: Net revenue retention % (target >110% for growth-stage)
• GRR: Gross revenue retention % (benchmark quality; should match peer average)
• Logo Retention: % (target >90%)

Tier 4: Profitability Path (are you durable?)

• Rule of 40: Growth % + operating margin % (target >40)
• Burn Multiple: Cash spent ÷ net new ARR (target <1.5)
• Months to Profitability: At current burn rate and ARR growth, when do you flip positive?

Sample One-Pager:

``` QUARTERLY UNIT ECONOMICS | Q2 2026

Growth

• ARR: $18.5M (+65% YoY)
• Net New ARR: $1.8M
• ARR Growth Rate: 18% QoQ

Efficiency

• Magic Number: 1.25 (target >1.0) ✓
• Blended CAC:ARR: 0.75 (below 1.0) ✓
• CAC Payback: 9 months (below 12m target) ✓

Expansion

• NRR: 118% (above 110% target) ✓
• GRR: 88% (matches industry 88%) ✓
• Logo Retention: 94% (above 90% target) ✓

Path to Profitability

• Rule of 40: 65% growth + -18% margin = 47 (above 40) ✓
• Burn Multiple: 1.42 (below 1.5 target) ✓
• Months to Profitability: 18 months (at current pace)

```

OpenView benchmark: Investors expect to see all 12 metrics for Series B+ funding. Missing Magic Number or burn multiple is a red flag.

Operator moves:

• Build in Google Sheets (not PowerPoint); auto-update from data source (Stripe, Salesforce, custom warehouse)
• Segment all metrics: breakout self-serve vs. SMB vs. enterprise
• Include 12-month trend line for each metric (not just this quarter)
• Color-code: Green (above benchmark), yellow (in range), red (below target)
• Share with leadership weekly; board gets monthly snapshot
• Add narrative: "Magic Number declined 0.15 points due to higher CAC in Q2; we're investing in brand. Forecast recovery in Q3 as campaigns mature."

TAGS: board-dashboard,unit-economics,SaaS-metrics,board-reporting,KPI-tracking