SaaS Metrics Slide for Investor Pitch Decks: What to Include and Exclude

A Framework for Your SaaS Metrics Slide: A Three-Act Story

For an early-stage SaaS founder, few moments are as high-stakes as presenting the metrics slide in an investor pitch deck. This single slide must distill months or years of effort into a compelling narrative of traction and potential. The pressure to choose the most convincing KPIs is immense, especially when you are working with imperfect data from Stripe, QuickBooks, and various spreadsheets. The goal is not just to present numbers, but to tell a clear and credible story about your business's health and trajectory. This guide provides a framework for crafting that story, focusing on the key SaaS performance indicators investors want to see.

Instead of a dense grid of numbers, think of your metrics slide as a three-act story. This structure helps you present SaaS growth in a logical flow that answers the fundamental questions every investor has. Each act builds on the last, creating a comprehensive picture of your business. The narrative moves from high-level growth to the underlying efficiency and sustainability of your model. This approach transforms a confusing data dump into a powerful argument for your company's future success, making it one of the best ways to select metrics for SaaS pitch decks.

Act I: The Growth Story (Headline Metric: MRR)

The first act is about demonstrating momentum. You need to show that the business is growing, and growing consistently. The most important of all financial metrics for SaaS startups is Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), which is the predictable revenue your business can expect to receive every month.

Visualizing Growth with an MRR Chart

A simple line chart showing MRR growth over the last 12-18 months is the absolute minimum. However, a more sophisticated and insightful approach is to use a stacked MRR Waterfall or Bridge chart. This chart breaks down your total MRR into its core components:

• New MRR: Revenue from brand new customers.
• Expansion MRR: Increased revenue from existing customers upgrading or buying more.
• Contraction MRR: Decreased revenue from existing customers downgrading.
• Churned MRR: Revenue lost from customers who cancelled their subscriptions.

This visualization immediately shows not just that you are growing, but how you are growing. It tells an investor if your growth is driven by new logos, upselling your current base, or both. This level of detail demonstrates a strong grasp of your business dynamics, even if you are pulling the data manually from Stripe and your accounting software.

Act II: The Unit Economics Story (Headline Metrics: CAC & Payback Period)

Once you have established top-line growth, the critical follow-up question is whether that growth is efficient and profitable. This is the story of your unit economics, which explains the direct revenues and costs associated with a typical customer. The two headline metrics here are Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and the CAC Payback Period.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

CAC tells you what you spend to acquire a new customer. The Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) formula is: Total Sales & Marketing spend over a period divided by the number of new customers acquired in that same period. While this “blended” CAC is a good start, showing channel-specific CAC is even better if you have the data. However, The reality for most Pre-Seed to Series B startups is more pragmatic: a consistently calculated blended CAC is perfectly acceptable and expected.

CAC Payback Period

The more important metric is the CAC Payback Period, which shows how many months it takes to recoup your acquisition cost from a new customer. The CAC Payback Period formula is: CAC divided by (Average Revenue Per Account multiplied by Gross Margin %). Investors generally want to see a payback period under 12 months for a healthy SaaS business. While many talk about the LTV:CAC ratio, early-stage LTV can be speculative. A LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or higher is considered a strong benchmark, but payback period is often a more grounded and credible metric at this stage.

Act III: The Retention Story (Headline Metrics: Churn & NRR)

The final act proves your product has staying power. It answers the crucial questions: do customers stay, and do they become more valuable over time? This act is essential for demonstrating product-market fit and long-term viability.

Customer and Revenue Churn

The story starts with churn, which is the rate at which you lose customers or revenue. It is important to distinguish between two types. Logo Churn is the rate at which you lose customers; the Logo Churn formula is: (Customers who churned in a period divided by Total customers at the start of the period). Revenue Churn shows the financial impact of those lost customers. An investor will want to see both, as high logo churn with low revenue churn might indicate you are losing smaller, less valuable customers, which is a much better story.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

The most powerful metric in this act is Net Revenue Retention (NRR). NRR shows what happens to your revenue from a single customer cohort over time, including expansion, contraction, and churn. The Net Revenue Retention (NRR) formula is: (Starting MRR + Expansion MRR - Churned/Contraction MRR) divided by Starting MRR. An NRR over 100% is the gold standard for SaaS investor reporting. When you can show an NRR over 100%, it means your existing customer base is a growth engine in itself. This demonstrates a powerful, compounding growth model that gets investors excited.

Designing Your One-Slide Summary: The Best SaaS Metrics for Your Pitch Deck

Your one-slide summary should be visually clean and instantly understandable. The central element should be your MRR Waterfall chart, showing the growth trend over the past 12-18 months. This provides the primary narrative anchor. Around this central chart, use clear callouts for your other key SaaS KPI examples. These should be presented as current snapshots or recent averages. A good layout includes:

• Central Graphic: 12-18 Month MRR Waterfall Chart.
• Top Left: CAC Payback Period (in months).
• Top Right: Net Revenue Retention (as a percentage).
• Bottom Left: Gross Margin (as a percentage).
• Bottom Right: Logo Churn (as a percentage).

This design prioritizes the most important information, allowing an investor to grasp your three-act story in seconds. The key is to show the trend for the primary metric (MRR) and provide the supporting headline metrics as clear, concise data points. Avoid cluttering the slide with secondary metrics; this is your highlight reel.

What to Exclude: Avoiding Common Red Flags

What you choose to exclude is just as important as what you include. Overcrowding your slide or using the wrong metrics can undermine your credibility and signal a lack of focus. Avoid the temptation to include vanity metrics like total registered users, downloads, or website visits unless they directly and clearly drive revenue. These are not the best SaaS metrics for an investor pitch deck because they often do not correlate with business health.

Be cautious with a blended CAC that hides unprofitable marketing channels. If you present a blended figure, be prepared to discuss the components. Most importantly, ensure your calculations are consistent. Using different formulas for churn or CAC from one month to the next is a major red flag. Investors are looking for clear, reliable SaaS investor reporting. The goal is to present directionally correct and consistently calculated metrics, not perfectly audited financials that are unrealistic for your stage.

Your Metrics Slide Tells Your Company's Story

Crafting the perfect metrics slide is about telling a compelling and honest story with data. By structuring your slide around the three-act narrative of Growth (MRR), Efficiency (CAC Payback), and Retention (NRR), you answer an investor's most critical questions in a logical sequence. The focus for a Pre-Seed to Series B startup should be on clarity and consistency, not unattainable precision. Your one-slide summary is a testament to your understanding of the business fundamentals. For more on preparing the core financial slides and anticipating investor questions, see the pitch deck hub at Pitch Deck Financials. A clean, well-narrated slide demonstrates that you are not just building a product, but a sustainable, high-growth company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What if my SaaS metrics are not perfect yet?
A: Investors in early-stage companies do not expect perfection. The key is to show positive trends and a deep understanding of your numbers. Acknowledge any inconsistencies and explain your plan to improve them. Honesty about your data builds more trust than presenting metrics that seem too good to be true.

Q: Should I present Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) or Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)?
A: For early-stage SaaS businesses with monthly subscription plans, MRR is the standard. It provides a more granular, up-to-date view of your momentum. ARR (which is just MRR x 12) is more common for later-stage companies or those focused on enterprise contracts with annual billing cycles.

Q: How many months of data should I show on my metrics slide?
A: A 12 to 18-month timeframe is ideal for your main MRR chart. This is long enough to show a meaningful trend, smooth out monthly volatility, and demonstrate consistent growth. For supporting metrics like CAC or NRR, showing a recent 3-month or 6-month average is often sufficient.