How these connect
MRR is the score. Pipeline coverage is the leading indicator.
These nine metrics form a chain, not a list. Pipeline becomes deals, deals become ACV, ACV becomes MRR, MRR becomes ARR, and the trailing change in ARR is your growth rate. Reading them in order tells you where the chain is breaking.
MRR and ARR are the same number expressed differently — MRR for operating, ARR for the boardroom. Pick one as your primary and stop mixing them in the same conversation. Most founders accidentally drift between the two and confuse their team.
Net New ARR is what you should actually be reviewing on Monday. Gross new ARR makes the new-logo team look good while churn quietly eats the back end. Net new is the honest scoreboard. If it's not on your weekly scorecard, your sales team is being graded on the wrong number.
Growth Rate is the metric the outside world judges you on. Every valuation multiple — every one — is anchored to your year-over-year growth rate. A 40% grower trades at twice the multiple of a 20% grower, even if both are the same size today.
Pipeline Coverage, Win Rate, Sales Cycle Length, and ACV are the four levers underneath all of it. If growth is slowing, one of these four is the culprit. Pipeline thinned out, you're winning fewer deals, deals are taking longer to close, or the deals you do close are smaller. Diagnose in that order — most pipeline-to-revenue problems are pipeline problems first.