N
Nodefield
Growth Intelligence
Live · Last sync 1 min ago Mon, May 11, 2026
Growth Brief — Week 19

The headline looks great.
One cohort is cratering.

A look at where Nodefield's $1.8M ARR actually stands — past the topline growth, past the funnel conversion, down to which customers stay and which silently leave.

01
Growth Brief
This month · Trailing comparisons
The number that matters
Net Revenue Retention · Trailing 90d
96%
↓ 6 pts Target 110%+ · Sub-100% means you're shrinking
MRR
$151k
↑ 8.2%
New MRR
+$12.4k
↑ 14.1%
Churned MRR
– $6.8k
↑ 42%
Active Accounts
320
↑ 9 net
!
MRR is up 8%, but Net Revenue Retention dropped 6 points. You're growing on the back of new logos, not loving the ones you already have. Churned MRR is up 42% — and 71% of it traces to a single cohort. See Section 02.
02
Cohort Truth
By month acquired · Retention view
ARR
$1.81M
320 paying accounts · ACV $5,650
Net Revenue Retention
96%
Healthy SaaS is 110%+ · You're 14 points short
Revenue At Risk
$182k
Q1 Promo cohort still on payroll, churning fast

Retention curves by acquisition month

% of customers still active over time · The lower the line, the worse the cohort
Sep '25 Dec '25 Jan '26 (Q1 Promo) Feb '26
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Day 0 Day 30 Day 60 Day 90 Day 120 Q1 Promo cohort at 64% by Day 90 — vs 88% for Sept
Cohort
New customers
D 30
D 60
D 90
D 120
Avg ACV
Sep 2025
38
96%
92%
88%
85%
$6,200
Oct 2025
42
94%
90%
86%
83%
$5,940
Nov 2025
36
93%
89%
84%
—
$6,080
Dec 2025
44
92%
88%
82%
—
$5,820
Jan 2026 · Q1 Promo
77
88%
78%
64%
—
$3,180
Feb 2026
52
90%
86%
—
—
$5,650
Mar 2026
48
88%
—
—
—
$5,920
"
The aha

The Q1 Promo cohort is at 64% retention by Day 90 — half what every other cohort does.

77 customers signed up via a 50%-off Q1 promotion at $3,180 ACV vs your usual $5,800. They never matched the rest of your customer profile, never activated at normal rates, and they're cancelling at 2x the speed. The promo brought in volume — and accounted for 71% of all churn this quarter. Killing the promo immediately doesn't grow MRR. But it stops the bleeding.

03
Customer Economics
CAC, LTV, and payback by channel
Blended CAC
$486
↑ 18% YTD — paid channels are scaling
12-mo LTV
$4,920
Down 7% — dragged by Q1 cohort early churn
LTV : CAC
10.1x
Healthy on blended view — but channel-level varies wildly

CAC by acquisition channel

Cost to acquire one paying account · 90d
Referral
$0
Organic / SEO
$42
Q1 Promo
$89
Paid Search
$385
LinkedIn Ads
$612
Outbound Sales
$1,840

Payback period

Months to recover CAC at current ARPU · By channel
Referral
Day 1
Organic / SEO
0.4 mo
Paid Search
2.1 mo
LinkedIn Ads
3.6 mo
Outbound Sales
6.4 mo
Q1 Promo
Never
!
Q1 Promo CAC was only $89 — but those customers churn before they ever pay back. Cheap acquisition doesn't matter if the customer never sticks. Meanwhile, Organic and Referral are paying back in days. Pour the Q1 Promo budget into SEO content instead — same money, customers that actually stay.
04
Activation Funnel
Trial → paid conversion · 14-day window
Trials started · 90d
1,284
From all channels combined
Activation Rate
68%
Target 75% · Each point worth ~$8K MRR retained annually
Trial → Paid Conversion
22.4%
Strong vs SaaS benchmarks (15-20%)

The 5-step activation funnel

1,284 trials → 287 paid · 22.4% conversion
Signed up
Email verified, account created
100% of trials
—
1,284
Connected integration
Linked at least one data source
82% complete
↓ 18% drop
1,053
Created 3 dashboards
The "aha" threshold
68% complete
↓ 14% drop
873
Invited 1 teammate
Multi-user signal — predicts retention
54% complete
↓ 14% drop
693
Converted to paid
Activated users convert at 4× the rate
22% of total
Activated: 31%
Non-act: 8%
287
✓
The biggest leak is between "connected integration" and "created 3 dashboards." 180 trial users get past integration but never reach the activation threshold. Activated users convert at 31%, non-activated at 8%. Closing this gap from 68% → 75% activation lifts annual MRR by an estimated $96,000 — without spending a dollar on acquisition.
05
Burn & Runway
Today · Forward-looking

Operational health

The numbers your board asks about · This month
Monthly Burn
$182k
Net of revenue · ↑ 6% MoM
Burn Multiple
1.4×
Healthy (under 2×) · efficient growth
Gross Margin
78%
In line with SaaS benchmarks (75-85%)
Rule of 40
38
Growth 52% + Margin –14% = 38 · Just below target
Magic Number
0.72
Sales efficiency · Above 0.75 = scale faster

Runway

At current burn · Excluding new fundraise
13.2
Months remaining
Now 6 mo 12 mo 18 mo
Cash on hand
$2.4M
Next milestone: Series A at $3.5M ARR (~9 months out)
✓
Runway is healthy, but the path to Series A depends on fixing NRR. At 96% NRR, investors will price you lower regardless of growth. Lifting NRR back above 110% — by killing the Q1 promo and improving activation — is worth 1.5-2× on the next valuation. The math is bigger than any pipeline play this quarter.
∴
The full picture

Three moves. NRR from 96% to 112%.

Kill the Q1 Promo immediately — it accounts for 71% of churn at a 64% Day-90 retention rate. Improve activation from 68% to 75% by fixing the integration → 3-dashboards gap (worth $96K in retained ARR). Convert the 12 highest-engagement trials this week — their activation pattern matches your best retained cohort. None require new capital. All compound into a stronger Series A.

Nodefield · Growth Intelligence Dashboard · built with Looker Studio + Stripe / HubSpot / Mixpanel
Demo build · Live data pipeline ready in week 2