The 5 Product KPIs buyers really care about in a M&A

‍The Five KPIs That Move the Needle

1. MRR Growth Rate
   • Why it matters: Demonstrates momentum. Buyers want to see predictable, recurring revenue expansion, not spikes driven by one-off deals.
   • How to measure: Compare month-over-month or quarter-over-quarter net new MRR, isolating churn from upsells.
2. Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
   • Why it matters: Shows the health of your existing customer base. A high NRR signals that churn and downgrades are outweighed by expansions.
   • How to measure: ((Starting ARR + Expansion ARR – Churned ARR) / Starting ARR) × 100.
3. Time-to-Value (TTV)
   • Why it matters: Buyers view your onboarding and activation speed as a proxy for product usability and customer experience.
   • How to measure: Median days from customer sign-up to first “aha” event—when they use a key feature that drives value.
4. Technical Debt Ratio
   • Why it matters: Under the hood, technical debt is a liability. A quantified debt ratio (e.g., SonarQube debt minutes ÷ total development minutes) gives buyers clarity on rework risk.
   • How to measure: Use a code-quality tool to estimate remediation effort, then express it as a percentage of your yearly dev budget.
5. Feature Adoption Curve
   • Why it matters: Buyers look for sticky features. Adoption curves highlight which capabilities drive retention versus those that gather digital dust.
   • How to measure: Plot cumulative user adoption for each major feature over time; focus on the top three drivers.

Why “Less, but Sharper” Wins

‍Deloitte’s 2025 M&A Trends Survey describes an environment where buyers increasingly rely on a concise set of metrics to make rapid decisions Deloitte United Kingdom. Overloading them with dozens of vanity metrics only obscures the signal: focus on the KPIs that speak directly to growth, retention, and risk.

Implementing Your KPI Blueprint

1. Audit Your Data Sources
   • Centralize metric calculations in one analytics platform—avoid ad-hoc spreadsheets.
2. Validate Definitions
   • Ensure your finance, product, and CS teams agree on each KPI’s formula.
3. Automate Reporting
   • Wire up dashboards that refresh daily; buyers appreciate live visibility.
4. Tell the Story
   • Contextualize each KPI: why it matters, what the trend shows, and how you’re optimizing it.

In product DD, precision beats quantity. Choose the five metrics that align most closely with buyer priorities, present them transparently, and watch your process compress—and your valuation climb.

Unlock Yuki’s KPI Blueprint and start preparing metrics that resonate:
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