Decoding Financial Goals: A Lesson in Clarity from Jason Cohen
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Jason Cohen
@asmartbear·Sep 1
What’s the difference between a goal of $1M ARR and a goal of 1666 customers, if I stipulate that every customer’s MRR is $50?
If you can’t answer that, you’re not thinking clearly about your company’s purpose, what is a cause, and what is an effect.
Jason Cohen flips the usual “hit $1M ARR” goal on its head. He asks: what’s the difference between that and getting 1666 customers paying $50 MRR each? If you don’t know, you’re mixing up the cause with the effect.
Why It Works
- $1M ARR is a result, not a plan.
- 1666 customers is a mechanical metric—it’s actionable.
- Clarity like this focuses teams on drivers (customers, pricing, retention) instead of vanity results.
- It connects daily work to bigger company outcomes.
Real-Life Hits
- Basecamp grew by tracking active teams, not generic revenue.
- Netflix watches retention rates, not new subs.
- ConvertKit publicly shows MRR growth tied directly to user count and ARPU.
- HubSpot focuses on qualified leads per month, not just pipeline value.
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