Case study · SaaS
Rebuilding SaaS metrics and pricing at $5M ARR
A bootstrapped B2B SaaS company at $5M ARR rebuilt its metrics and pricing, lifting net revenue retention from 104% to 117% and cutting CAC payback to 14 months.
CAC payback, from 22 months
Average contract value after repricing
Net revenue retention, %
Client
Bootstrapped B2B SaaS · $5M ARR
Revenue
$2–5M
Engagement
4 months
The company sold workflow software to mid-sized logistics teams and had reached $5M in ARR without outside capital. Growth had slowed to about 20% a year, and the two founders were weighing a first institutional round against staying independent.
Their metrics could not settle the question. ARR included one-off onboarding fees, net revenue retention was calculated on total revenue rather than a cohort, and CAC payback left out the cost of the sales team. On corrected numbers, net revenue retention was 104% and CAC payback was 22 months, both weaker than the founders believed.
Pricing was the underlying cause. Every customer paid a flat per-seat price set four years earlier, so large accounts that used the product heavily paid the same rate as small ones. Expansion only came from added seats, which few customers bought. The founders and their two-person advisory board had no standing report to watch any of this.
Leah Okonjo led the engagement over four months, with Maren Stavely reviewing the pricing work.
One metrics sheet. ARR, cohort-based net revenue retention, gross margin and fully loaded CAC payback, each with a written definition tied to the closed books.
A standing monthly pack. Eight pages for the founders and advisory board, with metrics against plan and short commentary.
Pricing analysis. We grouped customers by usage and size, calculated margin and retention for each group and modeled three packaging options against churn risk.
Repricing plan. The founders chose tiered plans with a usage-based component. New customers moved first, and existing customers moved at renewal with 90 days’ notice and a one-year transition discount.
Channel review. Paid acquisition channels were ranked by payback on fully loaded cost, and the two weakest were paused. Their budget moved to channels paying back in under 12 months.
The founders’ counsel reviewed the updated customer terms before they went out.
Average contract value on new and renewed contracts rose 18% after repricing. Net revenue retention climbed each quarter, from 104% to 108%, 112% and then 117%, as usage-based pricing turned heavier use into expansion revenue. CAC payback fell from 22 months to 14, helped by higher contract values and the paused channels.
The founders now run the monthly pack themselves, and the quarterly figures in the chart come from it. With efficient growth visible in the numbers, they chose to stay independent for now and revisit a raise from a stronger position.
Figures are from a demo engagement and are illustrative. Past results do not predict future outcomes.
Priyanka D.
CEO, bootstrapped B2B SaaS
Client, people and figures are fictional demo content. Past results do not predict future outcomes. Disclaimer
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