Rockstart Digital Health Accelerator – Startup Metrics Template
In early 2015 Rockstart, already a well-known name in the European startup community, launched a new digital health accelerator focused on making a sustainable impact on global health systems.
We have partnered with Rockstart to put together a template that you can start using today to get a high-level understanding of how your business looks today and where your growth is leading you in the future.
We went a little longer than 3 minutes with this one but we promise it is worth it!
What startup metrics matter to an early stage digital health company?
As with any early-stage company, focus is key. This is why Rockstart puts each company’s Most Valuable Metric front and center on the business dashboard. The primary reason to have a single, understandable metric for your business is to cut out the noise that comes with trying to track (and take action on) every single thing so that you can hone in on the one thing that drives your success. Read any startup post-mortem and you’ll quickly realize the negative impact that lack of focus can have on a company.
In the digital health sector, companies don’t all fit within the same bucket from a business model perspective. The first Rockstart Digital Heal Accelerator class has hardware companies (like Med Angel), marketplaces (like Dinst), and SaaS businesses (like Mount) who all likely have different true north metrics.
Revenue and Net Burn – Are you becoming more cash efficient over time?
The reality in many early stage technology companies still searching for a sustainable business model is unprofitability. In many cases, companies focus solely on top line (revenue) growth and neglect the need to control costs around things like user acquisition. Taking this approach results in a very cash inefficient business model.
In cash efficient businesses, like the example in the video, a company grows revenue at an exceedingly faster rate than it grows its net burn. This leads to (eventually) a self-sustaining business and, in the interim, the ability to raise capital at more company-friendly terms. If you want to learn more about startup cash efficiency, we highly recommend this post from Hyde Park Ventures’ Guy Turner.
