"The #1 thing that will hold our valuation down is low platform use and adoption." Good story and narrative arc. But the user data does not actually support it. We have sub-100 monthly users and only a couple of clients that use it. The two metrics we need to be obsessing over:
WAU and NRR growth.
— DK Kelly, Board Advisor, via Daniel Newman (CEO) • March 2026
These are the metrics an investor or board member would see first. No spin.
MAU (30d)
90
Sub-100 threshold
SaaS benchmark: 1,000+ for Series B
Est. WAU
~32
Estimated from MAU
Need: Direct WAU tracking
Engaged Users (90d)
125
15% of invited
Target: 250 by Q3
Stickiness Ratio
~11%
Below 20% SaaS floor
SaaS good: 20-25%
Customer Orgs
55
Fortune 500 logos
Active (MAU>0): ~30 of 55
Active Users / Org
3.0
DK: "only a couple of clients"
Target: 20-50 per org
⚠ Investor Translation
If we were public: "Futurum Intelligence Platform served 90 monthly active users across 55 enterprise accounts in Q1 2026." That's the sentence. It doesn't sound like a platform company. The logos are great. The per-logo engagement is not. We need to 10x MAU before a meaningful transaction.
Where we're losing users. Each drop is a fixable problem.
Ever Logged In
-453 lost (54%)
Active 90d (QAU)
-203 lost (53%)
Engaged (5+ events)
Power base
🔎 Biggest Leak: 54% Never Log In
453 invited users have never logged in. This is the single highest-leverage fix. If we activated even half of them, MAU doubles overnight. Root causes: no onboarding sequence, no "your briefing is ready" trigger, no reason to show up day one.
Not just "are they here" but "are they doing anything meaningful?"
Sessions per Active User (90d)
How often do active users come back?
User Tier Distribution
Power (10%) vs Drive-by (50%) — the engagement cliff
Content Consumption by Type
What are users actually doing on the platform?
Time Between Sessions
Are users forming a habit?
Sessions / Active User / 90d
2.95
523 sessions / 177 QAU
Report Open Rate
52%
48% opened zero reports
AI Feature Usage
3.3%
Hidden on own page
Quick-Hit Sessions
51%
Single action, in/out
Do users stick? The report-discovery retention signal is real but narrow.
Report Openers → Retained
85%
vs 17% who don't open reports
5x Retention Lift
5x
If report opened in session 1
Sessions: Email + Reports
9.8
vs 2.8 with neither
Sessions Miss Reports
67%
Discovery problem, not content problem
Retention by Activation Path
Email + Reports is the proven activation formula
Simulated Monthly Cohort Retention
Based on 15-month behavioral data (Jan 2025 – Mar 2026)
✅ The One Thing That Works
Users who open a report in their first session are 5x more likely to return. Users who get email + read reports average 9.8 sessions (vs 2.8 without). The product isn't broken — the discovery experience is. 67% of sessions never find a report. Fix discovery, fix retention.
DK's concern: "only a couple of clients that use it." Here's the truth by account.
| Organization |
Invited |
Logged In |
MAU |
QAU |
Engaged |
QAU Rate |
Health |
| Dell | 115 | 62 | 7 | 26 | 15 | 23% | |
| IBM | 70 | 31 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 16% | |
| AWS | 64 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 11% | |
| NetApp | 56 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 13% | |
| Cisco | 54 | 25 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 33% | |
| Microsoft | 46 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 17% | |
| Salesforce | 45 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 22% | |
| Micron | 40 | 19 | 1 | 17 | 13 | 43% | |
| Red Hat | 12 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 50% | |
| Zendesk | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 50% | |
| Google | 20 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 25% | |
| Intel | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 60% | |
| NVIDIA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 40% | |
| CoreWeave | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 40% | |
| ServiceNow | 20 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 25% | |
⚠ The "Couple of Clients" Problem
Of 55 orgs, only 5 have MAU ≥ 4 (Dell, IBM, Red Hat, Zendesk, Google). Our largest account (Dell, 115 invited) has just 7 MAU — a 6% monthly activation rate. The biggest accounts have the lowest engagement rates. We're wide but paper-thin.
Honest letter grades against SaaS benchmarks. This is what we'd put in a shareholder letter.
D
Monthly Active Users
90 MAU — sub-100 is pre-product-market-fit territory
D-
Stickiness (DAU/MAU)
~11% — SaaS floor is 20%, best-in-class is 40%+
C-
Activation Rate
46% ever login — 54% ghost rate is very high
C
Engagement Depth
2.95 sessions/user/quarter — low but report-readers hit 9.8
B+
Retention (when activated)
85% retention among report-openers — the product works when found
A
Logo Quality
55 Fortune 500 enterprise tech accounts
💡 The Story for Investors
We have A-grade logos and B+ retention when users activate. But we're failing at getting users to show up (D activation) and building daily habits (D- stickiness). The platform works — we have a distribution and discovery problem, not a product problem. The freemium pivot fixes distribution. The personalized dashboard fixes discovery.
The metrics we hold ourselves to. Updated quarterly. Tied to comp.
🎯 Q2 2026 Targets (Apr–Jun)
🏆 Q4 2026 Targets (Post-Freemium)
📋 The Comp Metrics (Daniel's Ask)
Primary (weight: 60%): WAU growth rate and MAU — the usage pulse DK is demanding.
Secondary (weight: 25%): Activation rate and report discovery — the leading indicators that predict WAU.
Lagging (weight: 15%): NRR and free→paid conversion — the revenue proof that usage drives money.
These metrics replace "power user" narratives with hard accountability. Report them monthly to the board starting Q2.
| # |
Action |
Metric Impact |
Effort |
MAU Lift Est. |
| 1 |
Onboarding email sequence — "Your personalized briefing is ready" for 453 never-logged-in users |
Activation rate 46% → 65% |
|
+40-80 MAU |
| 2 |
Reports on landing page — Surface top 3 relevant reports on first login. Kill the discovery gap. |
Report discovery 33% → 60% |
|
+20-40 MAU |
| 3 |
Weekly digest email — "3 things your peers read this week" with direct report links |
Stickiness 11% → 18% |
|
+15-25 MAU |
| 4 |
Freemium self-serve signup — Open registration for ITDMs. The DK virtuous cycle. |
Total addressable users: 10x |
|
+500-2000 MAU |
| 5 |
Buyer → Vendor translation layer — Show vendors the "so what" from buyer activity |
NRR, vendor willingness to pay |
|
Revenue unlock |
Where we need to be, how we get there, and what we're betting on at each stage. Targets are comp-grade — shareable with Daniel.
6 MO
Fix the Foundation
Target: October 2026 • Theme: Activation + Habit Formation
MAU
90
→
350–400
Meets: 350 • Exceeds: 400
WAU
~32
→
120–140
WAU/MAU ratio: ~35%
Stickiness (DAU/MAU)
11%
→
18–20%
Target: SaaS floor (20%)
Activation Rate
46%
→
65%
Process fix, not product rebuild
Active Users / Org
3.0
→
5–6
Champion-led expansion
Customer Orgs
55
→
70–75
+15–20 net new from sales
Report Discovery
33%
→
55–60%
Personalized homepage + push
AI Feature Usage
3.3%
→
12–15%
Prominent placement + prompts
Where the MAU Growth Comes From
Ghost Reactivation
+80–120
453 never-logged-in users. Onboarding sequences + "your briefing is ready" emails. Converting 20–25% is conservative.
Dormant Reactivation
+40–60
87 users went dormant (QAU but not MAU). Weekly digests + Slack notifications pull them back into monthly cadence.
New Logos (Sales)
+100–150
15–20 new orgs × 8–10 invited users each. At 65% activation, that's 80–130 new MAU. Better onboarding from day one.
Existing Org Expansion
+30–50
Champion programs in top 15 accounts. Moving from 3.0 to 5–6 active users/org. CS co-motion with sales.
Integration Milestones — Month 6
✓ Slack Digest — Live
✓ Email Briefing — Live
✓ Teams Notifications — Live
⏲ Browser Extension — In Dev
12 MO
Prove the Model
Target: April 2027 • Theme: Freemium + Monetization Proof
MAU
350
→
1,000–1,200
Meets: 900 • Exceeds: 1,200
WAU
130
→
380–450
Stickiness holds at 22–25%
Stickiness (DAU/MAU)
19%
→
22–25%
Approaching SaaS median
Activation Rate
65%
→
72–75%
Freemium removes invite gate
Active Users / Org
5.5
→
8–10
Account dashboards drive seats
Customer Orgs
72
→
100–110
~60 paid + ~40–50 freemium
Free → Paid Conversion
3–5%
Slack: 3–4% • Dropbox: 4%
Net Revenue Retention
>108%
Seat expansion drives NRR
Report Open Rate
52%
→
65%
Push channels + personalization
AI Feature Usage
14%
→
25–30%
"Ask Futurum" becomes a reflex
Why This Is Realistic
1,000 MAU on a base of 100+ enterprise orgs = ~10 users per org. For Fortune 500 enterprise tech accounts with analyst relations and product marketing teams of 15–50 people, 10 active users is conservative. The freemium funnel adds top-of-funnel volume without requiring sales to close every seat.
Biggest dependency: Freemium launch timing. If it slips past Q3 2026, the 1,000 MAU target gets tight. The "meets" threshold of 900 accounts for a one-quarter slip.
Integration Milestones — Month 12
✓ Slack — Mature
✓ Teams — Live
✓ Email Digest — Mature
✓ Browser Extension — Live
⏲ Salesforce Widget — Beta
24 MO
Platform Scale
Target: April 2028 • Theme: Embedded Everywhere + Revenue Proof
MAU (Platform + Embedded)
3,000–4,000
Meets: 3,000 • Exceeds: 4,000
Platform-only: ~1,800–2,200
WAU
1,200–1,500
"Monday morning briefing" is a reflex
Stickiness (DAU/MAU)
28–32%
Approaching best-in-class B2B
Customer Orgs
180–220
~100 paid + ~80–120 freemium
Active Users / Org (Paid)
15–20
AR, PM, CompIntel, Exec teams
Free → Paid Conversion
5–7%
12+ months of funnel optimization
Net Revenue Retention
115–120%
Seat expansion + tier upgrades
Integration-Driven Sessions
40–50%
Half of engagement outside platform
AI Feature Usage
45–55%
"Ask Futurum" is a brand verb
Platform Health Grade
B+
Up from D • Every category C+ or above
Integration Milestones — Month 24
✓ Slack — Mature
✓ Teams — Mature
✓ Email — Mature
✓ Browser Extension — Mature
✓ Salesforce Widget — GA
⏲ CRM API — Beta
Each integration doesn't just add a channel — it changes the engagement math. Here's the compounding effect.
Slack & Teams
Live by Month 6
+30–40%
Engagement lift. Users see intelligence passively in channels they already monitor. Turns a "pull" product into a "push" product. Weekly digest drops into #strategy channel — no login required to stay informed.
Browser Extension (Chrome / Edge)
Beta by Month 8 • GA by Month 12
+15–20%
We control this — no third-party dependency. Sidebar pops up Futurum intelligence while users browse competitor sites, read news, or prep for meetings. Catches users at the moment of decision — not when they remember to visit the platform. Works in Chrome and Edge (covers ~85% of enterprise browsers).
Salesforce / CRM Widget
Beta by Month 12 • GA by Month 18
+10–15%
Vendor intelligence surfaces during deal prep and QBRs. Sales-facing accounts get Signal Scores and competitive positioning inside the tools they use for pipeline management.
Compounding Net Effect by Month 24
~2x
Integrations roughly double effective engagement vs. platform-only
Platform-only MAU ~1,800–2,200 → Platform + Embedded MAU 3,000–4,000
The targets tied to compensation. "Meets" = 85% confidence. "Exceeds" = 50% confidence, requires everything clicking. Shareable with Daniel.
| Horizon |
Primary (60% weight) |
Secondary (25% weight) |
Lagging (15% weight) |
| 6 MO |
MAU 350 / 400
meets / exceeds
|
Activation 65%
Report Discovery 55%
|
Too early for revenue metrics
|
| 12 MO |
MAU 900 / 1,200
meets / exceeds
|
WAU 380
Stickiness 22%
|
Free→Paid 3%
NRR 108%
|
| 24 MO |
MAU+Embed 3,000 / 4,000
meets / exceeds
|
WAU 1,200
Integration Adoption 40%
|
NRR 115%
Free→Paid 5%
|
Principles for the Daniel Conversation
1. Confidence Bands
"Meets" thresholds are 85% confident — achievable even if one initiative slips. "Exceeds" requires everything going right but not miracles.
2. Control vs. Dependency
MAU growth depends partly on sales bringing logos. Activation rate and stickiness are pure product execution. Weight product-controlled metrics higher if sales pipeline is uncertain.
3. Redefine MAU at Month 18+
If you build Copilot and Slack integrations and users engage there, you should get credit for that engagement. Negotiate "MAU + Embedded" as the comp metric before year 2.
4. Report Monthly, Comp Quarterly
Monthly board reporting gives early warning. Quarterly comp measurement smooths out noise. Never let a single bad month define a payout.