Essay · 10 min read plus slides

Churn is Dead, Long Live Net Dollar Retention

Dave Kellogg · Kellblog Free Advanced

Kellogg's argument that churn has too many definitions to be trustworthy, and that private companies should measure NDR the way public ones do. The slides are the reference deck for this debate.

• Argues net dollar retention beats LTV/CAC because churn has too many definitions and invites gaming.
• Notes PE firms recalculate all your metrics anyway, so use the measure public markets already trust.
• Suggests private SaaS companies also start tracking remaining performance obligation (RPO).