| name | Business Health Diagnostic |
| description | Diagnose overall SaaS business health by analyzing growth, retention, unit economics, and capital efficiency metrics together. Use this to identify problems early, prioritize actions by urgency, and d |
Business Health Diagnostic
Type: interactive | Theme: finance-metrics | Time: 20-30 min
Purpose
Diagnose overall SaaS business health by analyzing growth, retention, unit economics, and capital efficiency metrics together. Use this to identify problems early, prioritize actions by urgency, and deliver a comprehensive health scorecard for board meetings, quarterly reviews, or fundraising preparation.
This is not a single-metric check—it's a holistic diagnostic that connects revenue, retention, economics, and efficiency to reveal systemic issues and opportunities.
Key Concepts
The Business Health Framework
A SaaS business is healthy when four dimensions work together:
-
Growth & Retention — Are you growing and keeping customers?
- Revenue growth rate
- NRR (Net Revenue Retention)
- Churn rate
- Quick Ratio
-
Unit Economics — Is the business model profitable at the customer level?
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
- LTV (Lifetime Value)
- LTV:CAC ratio
- Payback period
- Gross margin
-
Capital Efficiency — Are you using cash efficiently?
- Burn rate
- Runway
- Rule of 40
- Magic Number
-
Strategic Position — Are you positioned for sustainable success?
- Market positioning (below, at, above market pricing)
- Competitive moat (network effects, data, brand)
- Revenue concentration risk
- Operating leverage
Stage-Specific Benchmarks
Early Stage (Pre-$10M ARR):
- Focus: Product-market fit, unit economics
- Growth: >50% YoY
- LTV:CAC: >3:1
- Gross Margin: >70%
- Runway: >12 months
- Acceptable: Negative margins, high burn (if unit economics work)
Growth Stage ($10M-$50M ARR):
- Focus: Scaling efficiently
- Growth: >40% YoY
- NRR: >100%
- Rule of 40: >40
- Magic Number: >0.75
- Acceptable: Moderate burn if growth is strong
Scale Stage ($50M+ ARR):
- Focus: Profitability, efficiency
- Growth: >25% YoY
- NRR: >110%
- Rule of 40: >40
- Profit Margin: >10%
- Required: Positive or near-positive cash flow
Red Flag Categories
Critical (Fix immediately):
- Runway <6 months
- LTV:CAC <1.5:1
- Churn accelerating cohort-over-cohort
- NRR <90%
- Magic Number <0.3
High Priority (Fix within quarter):
- Rule of 40 <25
- Payback >24 months
- Quick Ratio <2
- Gross margin <60%
- Revenue concentration >50% in top 10 customers
Medium Priority (Address within 6 months):
- NRR 90-100% (flat, not growing)
- Magic Number 0.3-0.5
- Operating leverage negative
- Churn rate stable but high (>5% monthly)
Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)
- Not a single metric: "Revenue is growing 50%, we're great!" (ignoring burn, churn, unit economics)
- Not stage-agnostic: Early-stage burn is acceptable; scale-stage burn is a problem
- Not static: Health is directional—are metrics improving or degrading?
- Not just numbers: Context matters (competitive pressure, market changes, team capacity)
When to Use This Framework
Use this when:
- Preparing for board meetings or investor updates
- Quarterly business reviews (QBR)
- Fundraising preparation (know your numbers)
- Annual planning (identify improvement areas)
- You suspect problems but can't pinpoint them
- New PM/exec joining and needs health assessment
Don't use this when:
- You're pre-revenue (focus on product-market fit first)
- You're in pure research mode (not enough data)
- You need tactical guidance (use specific skills: feature, channel, pricing)
Facilitation Source of Truth
Use workshop-facilitation as the default interaction protocol for this skill.
It defines:
- session heads-up + entry mode (Guided, Context dump, Best guess)
- one-question turns with plain-language prompts
- progress labels (for example, Context Qx/8 and Scoring Qx/5)
- interruption handling and pause/resume behavior
- numbered recommendations at decision points
- quick-select numbered response options for regular questions (include
Other (specify) when useful)
This file defines the domain-specific assessment content. If there is a conflict, follow this file's domain logic.
Application
This interactive skill asks up to 4 adaptive questions, then delivers a comprehensive diagnostic with prioritized recommendations.
Step 0: Gather Context
Agent asks:
"Let's diagnose your business health. I'll need metrics across four dimensions: growth, retention, unit economics, and capital efficiency.
Company context:
- Stage: (Pre-$10M ARR, $10M-$50M ARR, $50M+ ARR)
- Business model: (PLG, sales-led, hybrid)
- Target market: (SMB, mid-market, enterprise, mixed)
Why this matters: Benchmarks vary by stage. Early-stage optimizes for growth; scale-stage optimizes for efficiency.
Please provide the following metrics. Use 'unknown' if you don't have a metric."
Step 1: Growth & Retention Metrics
Agent asks:
"Growth & Retention:
-
Revenue:
- Current MRR or ARR: $___
- Revenue growth rate: ___% (MoM or YoY)
-
Retention:
- Monthly churn rate: ___%
- NRR (Net Revenue Retention): ___%
- Quick Ratio: ___ (or I can calculate it)
-
Expansion:
- Expansion revenue as % of total MRR: ___%
-
Cohort trends:
- Are recent cohorts retaining better or worse than older cohorts?
- Better (improving)
- Same (stable)
- Worse (degrading)
- Unknown"
Based on answers, agent evaluates:
- ✅ Healthy growth: Growth >40% YoY (growth stage) or >25% (scale stage)
- ✅ Healthy retention: NRR >100%, churn <5% monthly, Quick Ratio >2
- 🚨 Growth problems: Growth <20% YoY
- 🚨 Retention problems: NRR <100%, churn >5%, cohort degradation
Step 2: Unit Economics Metrics
Agent asks:
"Unit Economics:
-
Acquisition:
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): $___
- Blended or by channel? (If by channel, what's your best channel CAC?)
-
Value:
- LTV (Lifetime Value): $___
- LTV:CAC ratio: ___ (or I can calculate it)
- Payback period: ___ months (or I can calculate it)
-
Margins:
- Gross margin: ___%
- Contribution margin (if known): ___%
-
Trends:
- Is CAC increasing, stable, or decreasing over time?
- Decreasing (improving efficiency)
- Stable
- Increasing (diminishing returns)
- Unknown"
Based on answers, agent evaluates:
- ✅ Healthy economics: LTV:CAC >3:1, payback <12 months, gross margin >70%
- ⚠️ Marginal economics: LTV:CAC 2-3:1, payback 12-18 months
- 🚨 Poor economics: LTV:CAC <2:1, payback >24 months, gross margin <60%
Step 3: Capital Efficiency Metrics
Agent asks:
"Capital Efficiency:
-
Cash:
- Cash balance: $___
- Monthly net burn rate: $___
- Runway: ___ months (or I can calculate it)
-
Efficiency ratios:
- Rule of 40: ___ (Growth % + Profit Margin %) (or I can calculate it)
- Magic Number: ___ (S&M efficiency) (or I can calculate it)
-
Operating expenses:
- S&M as % of revenue: ___%
- R&D as % of revenue: ___%
- Is OpEx growing faster than revenue?
- No (positive operating leverage)
- Yes (negative operating leverage)
- Unknown
-
Profitability:
- Profit margin: ___%
- Path to profitability: (already profitable, 6-12 months, 12-24 months, >24 months, unknown)"
Based on answers, agent evaluates:
- ✅ Healthy efficiency: Rule of 40 >40, magic number >0.75, runway >12 months
- ⚠️ Acceptable efficiency: Rule of 40 25-40, magic number 0.5-0.75, runway 6-12 months
- 🚨 Poor efficiency: Rule of 40 <25, magic number <0.5, runway <6 months
Step 4: Deliver Comprehensive Diagnostic
Agent synthesizes all metrics and delivers:
- Overall Health Score — Healthy / Moderate / Concerning / Critical
- Dimension Scores — Growth, Retention, Economics, Efficiency
- Red Flags — Critical, High Priority, Medium Priority
- Prioritized Recommendations — Top 3-5 actions with expected impact
- Stage-Appropriate Benchmarks — How you compare to peers
Diagnostic Pattern 1: Healthy Business
When:
- Growth, retention, economics, and efficiency all meet stage-appropriate benchmarks
- No critical red flags
- Improving trends
Output:
"## ✅ Overall Health: Healthy
Your business shows strong fundamentals across all dimensions.
Health Scorecard
| Dimension | Score | Status |
|---|
| Growth & Retention | ✅ Healthy | Growth ___% YoY, NRR ___%, Churn ___% |
| Unit Economics | ✅ Healthy | LTV:CAC ___:1, Payback ___ months |
| Capital Efficiency | ✅ Healthy | Rule of 40: ___, Runway ___ months |
| Overall | ✅ Healthy | Strong position for scaling |
Key Strengths
-
[Specific strength 1]
- Metric: [e.g., NRR 120%]
- Why it matters: [Expanding within base without new logos]
-
[Specific strength 2]
- Metric: [e.g., LTV:CAC 5:1]
- Why it matters: [Sustainable unit economics support scaling]
-
[Specific strength 3]
- Metric: [e.g., Rule of 40 = 65]
- Why it matters: [Excellent balance of growth and efficiency]
Opportunities for Optimization
Even healthy businesses can improve. Here are your top opportunities:
1. [Opportunity 1]
- Current: [e.g., Magic Number 0.9]
- Opportunity: [Could scale S&M spend 2x and maintain efficiency]
- Impact: [+$___ MRR/month]
2. [Opportunity 2]
- Current: [e.g., Expansion revenue 15% of total]
- Opportunity: [Build upsell paths, target 25% expansion revenue]
- Impact: [NRR 110% → 120%]
3. [Opportunity 3]
- Current: [e.g., CAC $500, stable]
- Opportunity: [Improve conversion, reduce CAC to $400]
- Impact: [Faster payback, better LTV:CAC]
Recommended Actions (Next Quarter)
Priority 1: Scale what's working
- [e.g., Double content marketing budget (best channel)]
- Expected impact: [+___ customers/month, +$___ MRR]
Priority 2: Expand within base
- [e.g., Launch premium tier for 20% of customers]
- Expected impact: [NRR 110% → 115%]
Priority 3: Improve efficiency
- [e.g., Optimize paid acquisition (reduce CAC 10%)]
- Expected impact: [Payback 8mo → 7mo]
Monitor These Metrics
Weekly:
- NRR (should stay >___%)
- Churn rate (should stay <___%)
- Quick Ratio (should stay >___)
Monthly:
- Rule of 40 (should stay >___)
- Magic Number (should stay >___)
- LTV:CAC (should stay >___:1)
Quarterly:
- Cohort retention trends
- Revenue concentration risk
- Operating leverage
Benchmarks (Your Stage: [Growth/Scale])
| Metric | Your Performance | Benchmark | Status |
|---|
| Growth Rate | ___% | >40% (growth) / >25% (scale) | ✅ |
| NRR | ___% | >100% | ✅ |
| LTV:CAC | ___:1 | >3:1 | ✅ |
| Rule of 40 | ___ | >40 | ✅ |
| Gross Margin | ___% | >70% | ✅ |
You're performing at or above benchmarks across the board."
Diagnostic Pattern 2: Moderate Health (Fixable Issues)
When:
- Most metrics acceptable, but 1-2 dimensions have problems
- Medium-priority red flags
- Solvable with focus
Output:
"## ⚠️ Overall Health: Moderate (Fixable Issues)
Your business has good fundamentals but needs attention in [specific dimension].
Health Scorecard
| Dimension | Score | Status |
|---|
| Growth & Retention | [✅ / ⚠️ / 🚨] | [Details] |
| Unit Economics | [✅ / ⚠️ / 🚨] | [Details] |
| Capital Efficiency | [✅ / ⚠️ / 🚨] | [Details] |
| Overall | ⚠️ Moderate | [Primary issue area] needs attention |
Red Flags Identified
High Priority 🚨
- [Specific red flag]
- Metric: [e.g., NRR 95%]
- Threshold: [Should be >100%]
- Impact: [Base is contracting, not expanding]
- Fix by: [End of quarter]
Medium Priority ⚠️
- [Specific issue]
- Metric: [e.g., Magic Number 0.6]
- Threshold: [Should be >0.75]
- Impact: [S&M spend moderately efficient, room for improvement]
- Fix by: [6 months]
Root Cause Analysis
Primary Issue: [e.g., Retention & Expansion]
Symptoms:
- NRR 95% (should be >100%)
- Churn rate 5% monthly (should be <3%)
- Expansion revenue only 10% of MRR (should be 20-30%)
Diagnosis:
[e.g., Customers are churning before they expand. Onboarding is weak, no clear upsell paths.]
Impact:
- Lost MRR: [Calculate churn impact]
- Missed expansion: [Calculate expansion opportunity]
- Total impact: [Combined revenue loss]
Prioritized Action Plan
Immediate (Next 30 days):
1. Fix [Primary Issue]
- Action: [Specific step, e.g., "Launch onboarding improvement program"]
- Owner: [PM, Customer Success]
- Target: [Reduce churn 5% → 4%]
- Impact: [Save $___K MRR/month]
Short-term (Next Quarter):
2. [Secondary Action]
- Action: [e.g., "Build premium tier for upsell"]
- Target: [NRR 95% → 105%]
- Impact: [+$___K expansion MRR]
3. [Tertiary Action]
- Action: [e.g., "Optimize S&M spend, improve magic number"]
- Target: [Magic Number 0.6 → 0.8]
- Impact: [More efficient growth]
What Success Looks Like (90 Days)
Target metrics:
- NRR: 95% → 105% (+10pp)
- Churn: 5% → 3.5% (-30%)
- Magic Number: 0.6 → 0.8 (+33%)
Impact:
- Monthly revenue saved from churn: +$___K
- Expansion revenue: +$___K
- More efficient S&M: [details]
If you hit these targets, you'll be in 'Healthy' territory.
Monitor Weekly
Must-track metrics:
- Churn rate (track to ensure it's decreasing)
- NRR (track to ensure it's improving)
- Customer feedback (are improvements working?)
Leading indicators:
- Onboarding completion rate
- Time-to-value
- Usage metrics (activation, engagement)
What Not to Do
Don't:
- Scale acquisition until retention is fixed (you'll just churn faster)
- Ignore expansion (it's easier than new acquisition)
- Wait too long (retention problems compound)"
Diagnostic Pattern 3: Concerning Health (Urgent Action Required)
When:
- Multiple critical red flags
- 2+ dimensions problematic
- Requires immediate intervention
Output:
"## 🚨 Overall Health: Concerning (Urgent Action Required)
Your business has multiple critical issues that need immediate attention.
Health Scorecard
| Dimension | Score | Status |
|---|
| Growth & Retention | 🚨 Concerning | [Details] |
| Unit Economics | 🚨 Concerning | [Details] |
| Capital Efficiency | 🚨 Critical | [Details] |
| Overall | 🚨 Concerning | Multiple urgent issues |
Critical Red Flags 🚨
1. [Critical Issue 1 - e.g., Runway]
- Current: [6 months runway]
- Threshold: [<6 months = crisis]
- Impact: [Survival risk]
- Action: [Raise capital OR cut burn immediately]
- Timeline: [30 days]
2. [Critical Issue 2 - e.g., Unit Economics]
- Current: [LTV:CAC 1.2:1]
- Threshold: [<1.5:1 = unsustainable]
- Impact: [Losing money on every customer]
- Action: [Reduce CAC OR increase LTV]
- Timeline: [60 days]
3. [Critical Issue 3 - e.g., Cohort Degradation]
- Current: [Newer cohorts churning 2x faster than old]
- Threshold: [Degrading PMF]
- Impact: [Scaling makes problem worse]
- Action: [Stop scaling, fix retention]
- Timeline: [90 days]
Survival Plan (Next 90 Days)
Week 1-2: Triage
Immediate actions:
-
Extend runway (if <6 months)
- Option A: Raise bridge round ($___K)
- Option B: Cut burn by ___%
- Option C: Combination
- Decision by: [Date]
-
Stop scaling broken channels
- Pause S&M spend on channels with LTV:CAC <2:1
- Reallocate budget to [best-performing channel]
-
Assemble crisis team
- Daily standups on key metrics
- Weekly progress reviews
Month 1: Stop the Bleeding
Priority 1: Fix Unit Economics
- Current: LTV:CAC ___:1 (unsustainable)
- Actions:
- Reduce CAC: [Specific tactics]
- Increase LTV: [Improve retention, add expansion]
- Target: LTV:CAC >2:1 within 30 days
Priority 2: Improve Retention
- Current: Churn ___% (too high)
- Actions:
- Interview churned customers (identify top 3 reasons)
- Fix onboarding (reduce early churn)
- Proactive outreach to at-risk accounts
- Target: Reduce churn by 20% within 30 days
Month 2-3: Stabilize
Milestone 1: Positive Unit Economics
- LTV:CAC >2:1 ✅
- Payback <18 months ✅
- Gross margin >60% ✅
Milestone 2: Slowing Churn
- Churn decreasing month-over-month
- Cohort degradation stopped
- NRR improving toward 100%
Milestone 3: Runway Extended
- 12+ months runway (via fundraise or burn reduction)
- Clear path to next milestone
What Success Looks Like (Day 90)
Metrics:
- Runway: ___ months → 12+ months ✅
- LTV:CAC: ___:1 → >2:1 ✅
- Churn: ___% → reduced by 30% ✅
- NRR: ___% → improving toward 100%
Position:
- Out of crisis mode
- Stable foundation to rebuild growth
- Clear plan for next 6-12 months
What to Avoid
Don't:
- Try to grow your way out of this (fix unit economics first)
- Ignore the data (hope is not a strategy)
- Scale before you fix retention (accelerates failure)
- Wait until runway <3 months to fundraise (too late)
Do:
- Focus ruthlessly on retention and unit economics
- Cut costs to extend runway
- Be honest with board/investors about problems
- Move fast (you don't have time to waste)"
Diagnostic Pattern 4: Critical Health (Existential Crisis)
When:
- Runway <3 months OR
- Multiple critical failures (LTV:CAC <1:1, massive churn, no path to profitability)
Output:
"## 🚨🚨 Overall Health: Critical (Existential Crisis)
Your business is in survival mode. Immediate drastic action required.
[Similar structure to Pattern 3, but more urgent tone, shorter timelines, more drastic measures]
Immediate Actions (This Week):
- Emergency board meeting
- Fundraise immediately OR cut burn 50%+
- Stop all non-essential spend
- Fix top 1-2 critical issues (runway, unit economics)"
Examples
See examples/ folder. Mini examples below:
Example 1: Healthy Growth-Stage SaaS
Metrics:
- ARR: $20M, Growth: 60% YoY
- NRR: 115%, Churn: 2.5%
- LTV:CAC: 4:1, Payback: 10 months
- Rule of 40: 50, Runway: 18 months
Diagnosis: Healthy. Scale aggressively.
Example 2: Moderate Health (Retention Issue)
Metrics:
- ARR: $15M, Growth: 40% YoY
- NRR: 95%, Churn: 5%
- LTV:CAC: 3.5:1, Payback: 12 months
- Rule of 40: 38, Runway: 12 months
Diagnosis: Moderate. Fix retention before scaling further.
Example 3: Concerning (Multiple Issues)
Metrics:
- ARR: $8M, Growth: 25% YoY (slowing)
- NRR: 88%, Churn: 7% (increasing)
- LTV:CAC: 1.8:1, Payback: 20 months
- Rule of 40: 15, Runway: 8 months
Diagnosis: Concerning. Urgent action on retention and unit economics required.
Common Pitfalls
Pitfall 1: Celebrating Single Metrics
Symptom: "Revenue growing 50%!" (ignoring burn, churn, unit economics)
Consequence: Unsustainable growth. Scaling broken model.
Fix: Look at all four dimensions together.
Pitfall 2: Ignoring Stage-Specific Benchmarks
Symptom: "We're not profitable yet, is that bad?" (early-stage company)
Consequence: Misplaced worry. Early-stage should optimize for growth and unit economics, not profitability.
Fix: Use stage-appropriate benchmarks.
Pitfall 3: Focusing on Lagging Indicators Only
Symptom: "Churn is 5%, let's watch it"
Consequence: By the time lagging indicators (churn, NRR) show problems, it's late.
Fix: Track leading indicators (usage, engagement, onboarding completion).
Pitfall 4: Not Acting on Red Flags
Symptom: "NRR <100% for 3 quarters, but we'll fix it eventually"
Consequence: Problems compound. Becomes crisis.
Fix: Set clear timelines. If metric doesn't improve in X time, escalate.
Pitfall 5: Trying to Fix Everything at Once
Symptom: "Let's improve growth, retention, CAC, and efficiency simultaneously"
Consequence: Resources spread thin. Nothing improves.
Fix: Prioritize top 1-3 issues. Fix sequentially.
References
Related Skills
saas-revenue-growth-metrics — Detailed growth and retention metricssaas-economics-efficiency-metrics — Detailed unit economics and capital efficiencyfinance-metrics-quickref — Fast lookup for all metrics and benchmarksfeature-investment-advisor — Uses health diagnostic to inform feature prioritiesacquisition-channel-advisor — Uses health diagnostic to inform channel prioritiesfinance-based-pricing-advisor — Uses health diagnostic to inform pricing decisions
External Frameworks
- Bessemer Venture Partners: "SaaS Metrics 2.0" — Comprehensive benchmarks
- David Skok: "SaaS Metrics" — Unit economics benchmarks
- OpenView Partners: SaaS benchmarking reports
- Battery Ventures: "State of SaaS" annual report
Provenance
- Adapted from
research/finance/Finance_QuickRef.md (Red flags table)
- Decision frameworks from
research/finance/Finance_For_PMs.Putting_It_Together_Synthesis.md
- Benchmarks from
research/finance/Finance for Product Managers.md
