16 Startup Metrics for Entrepreneurs to Master

A16Z has a great post up titled 16 Startup Metrics that outlines many of key metrics investors look for and entrepreneurs often get incorrect. I’m guilty of this: when I went into one of my first investor pitches 10 years ago, I talked about revenue when it really was bookings, and the VC politely corrected me.

Here are the 16 metrics to test your knowledge before reading 16 Startup Metrics:

1. Bookings vs. revenue
2. Recurring revenue vs. total revenue
3. Gross profit
4. Total contract value vs. annual contract value
5. Lifetime value
6. Gross merchandise value vs. revenue
7. Unearned or deferred revenue … and billings
8. Customer acquisition cost … blended vs. paid, organic vs. inorganic
9. Active users
10. Month-on-month growth
11. Churn
12. Burn rate
13. Downloads
14. Cumulative charts (vs. growth metrics)
15. Chart tricks
16. Order of operations

Every entrepreneur should read 16 Startup Metrics and understand the metrics applicable to their startup.

What else? What are some more startup metrics that are important?