Calculate · Assess & Decide · Analysis & Finance
SaaS magic number
Your SaaS magic number (annualized new revenue over prior-quarter sales-and-marketing spend) with an efficiency band telling you whether to scale acquisition.
You receive: A reviewed magic-number calculator + the passing test report, run on your numbers.
Part of Choose Business Model, Build a Sales Engine
What's verified: STUD verifies the ARITHMETIC only: (revenue growth x4) over prior-quarter sales-and-marketing spend, banded on the 3-decimal rounded value (inefficient <0.5, caution <0.75, efficient 0.75 to 1.0 inclusive, above 1.0 = scale acquisition; note some practitioners, following Leckie's original, treat 0.75 as the scale point). Use the SAME revenue basis for both quarters (recurring revenue preferred); whether your revenue and spend figures are right is your judgment, not graded.
Opens soon
This objective is verified and ready. It opens soon, once sign-in and payments are live.
Deliverable interface
The exact vocabulary the automated check enforces: keys, tokens, entry points, and worked examples. Generated from the verification source.
{
"constants": {},
"entryName": "compute_saas_magic_number",
"expectNote": "expect is the comparison-space value (your return value goes through normalize first when one is published)",
"hiddenCaseCount": 9,
"hiddenCaseNames": [
"flat_inefficient",
"spend_more",
"caution_band",
"negative_growth",
"undefined_no_spend",
"boundary_caution_050",
"boundary_efficient_075",
"boundary_efficient_100_hidden",
"round_then_band"
],
"inputKeys": [
"revenue_prior_q",
"revenue_this_q",
"sm_expense_prior_q"
],
"normalizeSource": "def _magic_number_normalize(r):\n try:\n mn = r.get(\"magic_number\")\n return {\"magic_number\": (None if mn is None else round(float(mn), 3)), \"efficiency_band\": str(r[\"efficiency_band\"])}\n except Exception:\n return repr(r)\n",
"returnShapes": [
[
"efficiency_band",
"magic_number"
]
],
"signature": "def compute_saas_magic_number(inp):",
"submission": "python exposing the entry function; inp is one input object; graded on held-out cases",
"tier": "calculator",
"visibleCases": [
{
"expect": {
"efficiency_band": "efficient",
"magic_number": 1
},
"input": {
"revenue_prior_q": 1000000,
"revenue_this_q": 1200000,
"sm_expense_prior_q": 800000
},
"name": "efficient_1x"
}
],
"vocabulary": [
"caution",
"efficiency_band",
"efficient",
"inefficient",
"magic_number",
"revenue_prior_q",
"revenue_this_q",
"sm_expense_prior_q",
"spend_more",
"undefined"
]
}Get early access to STUD the day it goes live.