Revenue growth rate is the most fundamental metric for any startup. It tells you not
just how big you are today, but whether the business is accelerating, decelerating, or
dying. Investors underwrite growth trajectory, not current revenue.
Month-over-Month vs Year-over-Year
MoM (Month-over-Month) growth is the fastest feedback loop — it shows whether
last month's initiatives worked. But MoM is noisy. A single large deal, a seasonal
spike, or a one-time discount can distort it. Use a 3-month rolling average for
smoother signal.
YoY (Year-over-Year) growth removes seasonality and shows the underlying business
trend. It's the primary metric investors use when evaluating growth-stage SaaS. Most
SaaS companies aspire to 100%+ YoY growth in early years.
CAGR — smoothing lumpy growth
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) shows the smoothed annualised growth over a
multi-year period. If you grew from $100k to $800k ARR over 3 years, CAGR =
(800k/100k)^(1/3) − 1 = 100% per year. It ignores volatility between periods.
T2D3 — the venture growth benchmark
T2D3 means: triple in year 2, triple in year 3, then double in years 4, 5, and 6.
A company at $1M ARR following T2D3 reaches ~$96M ARR by year 6. This benchmark
was popularized by Bessemer Venture Partners and is the standard against which
growth-stage SaaS is measured.
Rule of 72
Divide 72 by your annual growth rate percentage to get approximate doubling time.
Growing at 72% YoY? You'll roughly double in 1 year. Growing at 36% YoY? Double in
2 years. This works for any compounding metric — MRR, ARR, users, revenue.
Frequently asked questions
What does this calculator do?
Calculate MoM, QoQ, and YoY revenue growth rates, CAGR, and time-to-double to benchmark your startup's trajectory.
What Is a Good Monthly Revenue Growth Rate for SaaS?
5–10% MoM is solid early-stage growth, but what does it mean for your ARR trajectory? Learn the benchmarks, T2D3, and how to model your growth compounded.
Monthly revenue growth rate is the most important number for an early-stage SaaS company.
It compounds rapidly — 10% MoM means ~214% annualised growth. Getting clarity on what
"good" looks like helps you avoid two common mistakes: celebrating modest growth as
exceptional, or burning yourself out chasing an unrealistic target.
MoM growth benchmarks by stage
ARR Stage
Excellent MoM
Solid MoM
Concerning
$0–$1M
20–30%+
10–20%
< 5%
$1M–$5M
15–20%
8–15%
< 5%
$5M–$20M
8–15%
5–10%
< 3%
$20M+
5–8%
3–5%
< 2%
Growth rates naturally decline as ARR grows — it's harder to double $20M ARR than
$200k ARR. The question is whether your growth is decelerating faster than expected.
These numbers look beautiful in a spreadsheet and brutal when you're behind target.
Use the Revenue Growth Rate Calculator to see
what your current MoM rate means for your annual trajectory and doubling time.
CAGR vs YoY Growth Rate: What's the Difference for SaaS?
CAGR smooths multi-year growth into a single annualised rate; YoY shows period-over-period change. Here's when to use each and how to calculate both.
Founders and investors use CAGR and YoY interchangeably, but they measure different
things. Confusing them leads to misleading reporting and bad planning decisions.
Year-over-Year (YoY) growth
YoY measures the change from one specific period to the same period a year ago.
If you had $800k ARR in June last year and $1.6M ARR this June, your YoY growth = 100%.
YoY is the standard investor metric. It removes seasonal variation and is easy to
compare across companies. Its limitation: it reflects only the most recent 12 months
and can be distorted by strong or weak comparison periods.
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
CAGR smooths multi-year growth into a single annualised rate.
CAGR = (Ending / Beginning)^(1/Years) − 1
Example: $100k to $800k ARR over 3 years = (800k/100k)^(1/3) − 1 = 100% CAGR.
CAGR is useful for investor presentations covering 3–5 year periods and for comparing
companies that had different growth trajectories in individual years. It hides
volatility — two companies can have the same CAGR with very different year-by-year paths.
T2D3 SaaS Growth Model: What It Means and How to Track It
T2D3 (Triple Triple Double Double Double) is the benchmark venture growth trajectory for SaaS. Here's what it means, how to calculate it, and whether it applies to your business.
T2D3 stands for Triple, Triple, Double, Double, Double — a shorthand for the revenue
growth trajectory that takes a SaaS company from $1–2M ARR to $100M+ ARR over five years.
The math behind T2D3
Starting from $2M ARR:
Year
Multiple
ARR
1
3×
$6M
2
3×
$18M
3
2×
$36M
4
2×
$72M
5
2×
$144M
This translates to roughly 200% YoY growth in years 1–2 and 100% YoY growth in years 3–5.
Is T2D3 realistic?
For venture-backed SaaS with significant GTM investment, yes — T2D3 represents the
expected return on institutional capital. For bootstrapped or self-funded businesses,
these multiples are exceptional outliers.
T2D3 assumes you've found product-market fit, have a repeatable GTM motion, and can
invest aggressively in sales and marketing. It's a target, not a guarantee.
How to use T2D3 as a planning tool
Break the annual multiple into monthly targets. Tripling means growing ~10.5% MoM
(since 1.105^12 ≈ 3.0). Doubling means ~5.9% MoM. If your MoM rate is consistently
below these thresholds, investigate whether the GTM motion needs repair before scaling
spend.
Tools our audience uses alongside this calculator.
BaremetricsSaaS Analytics
Tracks MoM, QoQ, and YoY revenue growth automatically from Stripe or Paddle. See growth rate trends, cohort analysis, and forecasts without building spreadsheets.