human layer
report · published via claude · Jul 1, 2026 · 2 min read · readonly

Q2 clears the Series A bar

Q2 closed at $1.9M ARR, growing 18% quarter over quarter with net revenue retention at 118% and the burn multiple down to 1.4. Every metric a Series A partner screens on now clears the bar — the constraint has moved from proof to speed, and this update ends with an ask, not a status.

source → billing export (Stripe), 2026-06-30+1 more

source · 1Q2: $1.9M ARR, +18% QoQ, 118% NRR, 1.4 burn multiple — Series A metrics clearedquery: “where does Q2 land against the Series A benchmark setbilling export (Stripe), 2026-06-30operating model v12, revenue tab
$1.9M
ARR · +18% QoQ
118%
Net revenue retention · +7 pts vs Q4
1.4
Burn multiple · target < 1.5 hit
21 mo
Runway · at current burn, no raise

source → billing export (Stripe), 2026-06-30+1 more

source · 2headline Q2 metrics: ARR, NRR, burn multiple, runwayquery: “ARR, NRR, burn multiple and runway at Q2 closebilling export (Stripe), 2026-06-30operating model v12, revenue tab

Retention is compounding, not holding

Each cohort retains better than the one before it — Q2 signups keep 93% of revenue in month one where Q3 of last year kept 84%. This is the onboarding rebuild paying out: the curve is not just flattening, it is flattening earlier every quarter. NRR above 115% with improving cohorts is the single strongest slide in the deck.

Every cohort retains better than the last

net revenue retained by signup cohort, share of M0

M0M1M2M3M4M5
Q3 '25100%84%79%77%76%75%
Q4 '25100%86%82%80%79%
Q1 '26100%89%86%85%
Q2 '26100%93%91%
source: billing export (Stripe), 2026-06-30

source → billing export (Stripe), 2026-06-30

source · 3cohort NRR improves monotonically; Q2 cohort holds 93% at M1 vs 84% for Q3 '25query: “net revenue retention by signup cohort, monthly, last four quartersbilling export (Stripe), 2026-06-30

Where the growth actually comes from

Enterprise and mid-market carry the quarter; the SMB self-serve book is flat by design since April, when we pointed the onboarding work at the paid tiers. The trend column is the argument — two compounding lines, one deliberately parked.

SegmentARRQoQ growth6-mo trendState
Enterprise$820k31%healthy
Mid-market$640k22%healthy
SMB self-serve$440k6%degraded
Nine logos, $91k average ACV, 14-month average contract. Two of the three Q2 additions came through the SOC 2 door that did not exist in Q1. Pipeline holds four more at proposal stage.

source → billing export (Stripe), 2026-06-30

source · 4enterprise ($820k, +31%) and mid-market ($640k, +22%) drive growth; SMB flat by designquery: “ARR, growth and trajectory by segment at Q2 closebilling export (Stripe), 2026-06-30

What the market is telling us

The pattern across Q2 win interviews: buyers do not compare us to the incumbent, they compare us to not solving the problem. That is category language, and it changed how the enterprise deck opens.

We did not evaluate alternatives. The team was already doing this by hand every week — your product just made the cost of that visible. The build-vs-buy meeting took eleven minutes.VP Data Platforms, Fortune 500 logo, June win interview

source → Q2 win interviews, n=11

source · 5buyers frame the product against manual work, not competitors — category signalquery: “what recurring language shows up in Q2 win interviewsQ2 win interviews, n=11

Against the plan we shipped in January

Two of the three H1 commitments are done — SOC 2 landed in May and gated two enterprise closes, and the onboarding rebuild is behind the retention curve above. Hiring is the one behind plan: the platform lead search restarted in June after the first offer fell through.

SOC 2 Type II — certified May 12100%
Onboarding rebuild — shipped April100%
H1 hiring plan — 2 of 5 senior roles40%

source → operating model v12, revenue tab

source · 6SOC 2 and onboarding rebuild delivered; senior hiring at 40% of H1 planquery: “status of the three H1 commitments from the January planoperating model v12, revenue tab

source → operating model v12, revenue tab

source · 7operating model, deck, win notes and investor target list, all linkedquery: “where are the primary documents behind this updateoperating model v12, revenue tab

The ask: open the Series A now

The metrics clear the bar today and the two compounding curves — cohort retention and enterprise ARR — are at their most presentable. Waiting two quarters buys marginally better numbers and materially worse leverage: the hiring plan is already gated on the raise, and the enterprise pipeline will outgrow our delivery capacity by Q4. We want to run the process in September with warm introductions lined up in July.

  1. July: each board member sends two partner introductions from the target list (circulated with this update).
  2. August: data room final — the appendix above is 80% of it already.
  3. September: first partner meetings, targeting a term sheet before Thanksgiving.

source → operating model v12, revenue tab

source · 8open the Series A in September; board asked for partner intros in Julyquery: “why raise now rather than after two more quartersoperating model v12, revenue tab