Many company dashboards die young. Someone connects eleven data sources, picks attractive charts, shows them at an all-hands, and then nobody opens the page again, because nobody can say what they'd do differently if a line went down.
The fix comes before any software. For each number, write down where it comes from, how often it changes, and which decision it controls. This page gives you that list by stage, then shows three ways to build it: in a spreadsheet, in a dashboard product, or in Nautis, with the limits of each.
Before you have revenue: eight numbers
At this stage your dashboard should answer two things: how long you can keep going, and whether you're learning fast enough to deserve more time. Revenue charts come later. Most of these can come from a bank statement and a simple log.
| Metric | Source | Frequency | The decision it drives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash in bank | Bank statement, last day of the month | Monthly | How much you can commit to anything |
| Net burn | Bank or books: cash at start minus cash at end | Monthly | Whether to cut, hold or spend |
| Runway in months | Cash divided by net burn | Monthly | When to start raising, ideally well before you must |
| Customer conversations | Your calendar or a notes log | Weekly | Whether you're learning or only building |
| People who'd be disappointed if it went away | Interview notes or a short survey | Monthly | Whether to keep going, or change the idea |
| Signups or waitlist from real outreach | Form or analytics | Weekly | Which message to double down on |
| Activation: users who reach the first real result | Product analytics or manual count | Weekly | What to fix in onboarding |
| Promised items shipped | Task board | Weekly | Whether scope is too large for the team |
If you're doing this for the first time, the customer interviews guide covers how to run the conversations that feed rows four and five, and the runway calculator does the sum for row three.
After revenue: ten numbers for a startup management dashboard
Once customers are paying, keep cash and runway and swap the softer signals for these. Assign one person to each row. A number with no owner soon stops being updated.
| Metric | Source | Frequency | The decision it drives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and runway | Bank and books | Monthly | Raise timing and hiring pace |
| Net burn | Books | Monthly | Whether to slow spending |
| MRR, recurring only | Billing system | Monthly | Whether growth supports the plan |
| Net new MRR, split into new, expansion and churned | Billing system | Monthly | Whether to work on sales or retention |
| Gross revenue churn | Billing system | Monthly | Whether to stop selling and fix the product |
| CAC, fully loaded and by channel | Ad platforms, payroll and CRM | Monthly | Which channels to fund or cut |
| Gross margin | Books | Quarterly | Whether pricing or delivery has to change |
| Qualified pipeline against target | CRM | Weekly | Whether next quarter's number is reachable |
| Activation rate | Product analytics | Weekly | Where to focus product work |
| Headcount against plan | HR records | Monthly | Whether to open or pause roles |
Our calculators will work these out from raw figures: CAC and LTV, gross margin, and, as you approach a Series A, burn multiple and net revenue retention. Investors tend to ask about those last two, so learn them before the Series A process starts. Add them by removing something: if you can't get to ten rows, you haven't chosen yet.
Vanity metrics, and how numbers mislead
A vanity metric goes up and tells you nothing about what to do next. The warnings below draw on a16z's 16 startup metrics, a good article to read in full before you define anything.
- Cumulative charts. Total signups can only rise, so the line looks healthy even in a decline. Chart the new figure per period.
- Bookings shown as revenue. a16z calls using them interchangeably "a common mistake". A signed contract and money earned are different things, and investors will find the gap.
- MRR with one-off fees inside. Multiplying one month's all-in bookings by 12 can count setup or installation fees as recurring. Startup Health's guide makes the same point: leave out one-off sales.
- Net churn on its own. Upsells can hide customers leaving. As a16z puts it, gross churn estimates the actual loss, while net revenue churn understates it. Show gross as well.
- Blended CAC. It mixes paid and organic, so it can't tell you whether your paid campaigns are profitable. Split by channel, and include referral fees, credits and discounts.
- Active users with no definition. a16z notes that companies have almost unlimited definitions of active. Write yours down once, and don't change it to suit a good month.
- Followers, page views, downloads, press. They can mean something as a leading signal for one channel. They don't belong on a company dashboard unless a decision depends on them.
Three ways to build one, with costs
Start with the cheapest option that someone will actually keep updated. Moving up a row later takes an afternoon, since the hard part is the list, and you'll already have that. Prices are as of November 2026.
| Option | What it does well | Published cost | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|---|
| A spreadsheet | Everything is visible, every formula can be checked, and it costs nothing extra | Included with Google Workspace or similar | Updates by hand; goes stale if nobody owns it; no alerts |
| Geckoboard | Live dashboards built to be read from across a room on a TV. Over 90 integrations, plus spreadsheets and an API | Essentials from $79 a month billed annually, with 2 dashboards. Performance from $319. 14-day trial | Shows numbers and leaves the acting to you |
| Databox | Pulls from many sources, and has a $0 version with 1 user, 3 data sources and 50 AI credits | Analyst listed at $71 a month billed annually. Team Core shows $199 on its card and $249 in its FAQ, so confirm the price | Paid plans cap data sources and users; needs clean sources |
| Nautis | Startup Health and Dashboard widgets sit next to the work they describe | $49 to $129 a month, with a 14-day trial and no card | Only reflects data in Nautis; check-ins are entered by hand |
Our view: start in a sheet, unless a data person is already asking for something better. A product makes sense once several sources update daily and people outside the leadership team need to see them. If you've already got BI software and an analyst, keep it, as none of these replace that.
How to build it in a sheet this afternoon
This takes about two hours, and the discipline it builds carries over to whichever tool comes next.
- Create one tab called Inputs, with a row per month and a column per number. Each owner types their figures here, and nowhere else.
- If figures live in other sheets, pull them in with IMPORTRANGE in Google Sheets. It takes the source URL and a range such as "Sheet1!A2:B6". You'll need to click Allow Access the first time, and you need access to the source.
- Create a second tab called Dashboard. Show this month, last month, the change and a target for each metric, and colour the change only if it crosses a threshold you chose in advance.
- Add a Decision column. In each row, write the action you'd take if the number missed: pause hiring, for instance, or move budget from a channel.
- Put a date on the review. Add a calendar event for the first week of each month, and put the owner's name next to any number that's late.
- After three months, delete any row that never changed a decision.
How this works in Nautis
Nautis splits this between two screens. Neither is a general chart builder, and its guides don't describe custom metric charts, so a company wanting bespoke cohort views should stay with a sheet or a dedicated product.
Startup Health
Startup Health is a monthly check-in. Click Update Data, enter Cash Balance, Monthly MRR and Monthly Burn, and the dashboard shows those plus Runway, each compared with last month. An alerts strip flags things like runway below 6 months, negative MRR growth or ballooning burn. The thresholds are built in and can't be changed. The History tab lists every check-in, and Analytics plots all four on one chart. From a check-in you can build an investor snapshot, and share it by tracked link with an expiry date.
Dashboard widgets
The Dashboard is your home screen, with a pinned KPI Cards row and a grid of widgets you can add, drag and resize from Customize Dashboard. Categories include Finance (Invoice Health, Budget & Expenses), Strategy & Planning (Milestones, Decision Loop, Startup Health), Fundraising, Marketing & Sales (Pipelines, Leads Summary), and Team & HR (Jobs & Applicants, Burnout Radar). Layouts are per user, so each person sets their own, and widgets follow role permissions.
What this covers against the lists above
Cash, burn, runway, MRR, pipeline and open roles are all covered. CAC by channel, gross margin, churn by cohort and product activation aren't shown as metrics in these guides, so you'd track those in Sheets, your analytics tool or a KPI task on a Task board, which tracks a number towards a target. Startup Health is only as good as the monthly entry: use the bank balance from the last day of the month, and set a reminder. The Chief of Staff Briefing also pulls in runway from Startup Health, which is useful if you'd prefer to be told when something moves.
Who reads it, and when
A dashboard needs a meeting attached, or it won't get read. Keep the routine small.
- Weekly, 15 minutes, leadership. Pipeline, activation and anything flagged. Ask only what changed and what you're doing about it.
- Monthly, 45 minutes, leadership. All the rows. Compare with target, agree one or two actions, and put names on them. Then send the investor update while the numbers are fresh.
- Quarterly. Change the list itself. Stages shift, and a metric you've mastered may no longer need attention.
FAQ
What should be on a startup management dashboard?
Eight to ten numbers tied to decisions at your stage. Before revenue, that means cash, burn, runway, customer conversations and activation. After revenue, add MRR, net new MRR, churn, CAC and qualified pipeline. Each number needs a source, a frequency and an owner.
Can I build a startup dashboard in a spreadsheet?
Yes, and most early teams should. Keep one tab for inputs and one for the view, and add a column that says what you'd do if the number missed. Move to a dashboard product once several sources update daily and more people need to see them.
What is the difference between Geckoboard and Databox?
Both pull numbers from your business tools into a shared view. Geckoboard stresses dashboards read on a TV across a room, starting from $79 a month billed annually as of November 2026. Databox has a $0 version with 3 data sources, and paid plans from a listed $71 a month billed annually.
How often should a startup review its dashboard?
Pipeline and activation weekly, and financial numbers monthly once the books close. Change the list itself each quarter. A review that takes 15 minutes and produces one action beats a long meeting about charts.
Does Nautis have a dashboard for runway and MRR?
Yes. Startup Health turns a monthly check-in of cash, MRR and burn into runway, trends and alerts, and Dashboard widgets show summaries from other modules. The check-in is entered by hand, and the guides don't describe custom charts, so bespoke analysis belongs in a sheet or a dedicated tool.
Disclosure: We make Nautis, so we have a stake in this topic. Vendor facts come from published pages, not a scored hands-on test. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.