- The author initially used Baremetrics and later switched to ChartMogul for SaaS metrics but found them lacking in insights like conversion rate and time-to-convert.
- They created a custom Rake task to calculate key business metrics themselves, including MRR, ARR, ARPU, conversion rate, churn rate, LTV, and revenue growth rate.
- The script retrieves Stripe subscription data via pagination, filters out deleted customers and duplicates, and assumes monthly billing and no discounts for simplicity.
- Calculating conversion rate changed from 30-day to 90-day window after discovering an average 45-day time-to-convert, leading to an unlimited free trial to reduce lead pressure.
- Using invoices improved dataset accuracy, enabling metrics like time-to-convert, and the author expanded the Rake task to include forecasted revenue and customer type analysis.
- The author runs the task 1-2 times weekly with caching to reduce anxiety from constant stat-checking, emphasizing boundaries for mental well-being.
- Replacing Baremetrics and ChartMogul with Rake provided tailored metrics, greater freedom, and insights that external services lacked.