Sample Newsletters
Three different styles. Three different industries. All written by Ted. All published under the client's name.
Every founder I talk to has the same problem: they have 47 metrics on their dashboard and no idea which three actually matter.
Last week, I sat down with a Series B CEO who was tracking NPS, DAU, WAU, MAU, churn, revenue churn, logo churn, expansion revenue, contraction revenue, and fourteen other things. She could not tell me which metric predicted whether her company would hit plan next quarter.
The problem is not the data. The problem is that more data feels like more understanding. It is not. It is more noise dressed up as signal.
Here is what I have learned from working with 200+ SaaS companies on their analytics: the companies that consistently hit their targets track three metrics obsessively. Everything else is context.
Metric 1: Net Revenue Retention. If NRR is above 110%, your existing customers are growing faster than they are leaving. The business compounds. Below 100%, you are on a treadmill -- running hard just to stay in place.
Metric 2: Qualified Pipeline Coverage. Not total pipeline. Qualified pipeline. You need 3-4x coverage of your quarterly target to hit plan with reasonable confidence. Below 2.5x, start worrying.
Metric 3: CAC Payback Period. How many months of revenue does it take to recoup the cost of acquiring a customer? Under 12 months is healthy. Over 18 months means your growth is borrowing from your future.
Everything else -- NPS, DAU, feature adoption, support ticket volume -- is useful context that helps you understand why these three metrics are moving. But they are inputs, not outcomes.
The next time someone asks you to add a metric to your dashboard, ask them: which of our three core metrics does this help us predict? If the answer is unclear, it does not belong on the dashboard.
Written by Ted. Published under Sarah Chen's name.
1. Epic Is Building an AI Layer Into MyChart
Epic announced ambient AI documentation features rolling out to MyChart patient portals. The move signals Epic's strategy to own the patient-facing AI experience, not just the clinical one. If you are building in the patient engagement space, this changes the competitive landscape significantly. Epic's distribution advantage is hard to compete with head-on.
My take: The opportunity is not competing with Epic's AI features. It is building the specialized workflows that Epic's general-purpose AI cannot replicate. Chronic care management, behavioral health screening, post-surgical recovery monitoring -- these require domain depth that a horizontal platform will not invest in.
2. CMS Interoperability Deadline: 60 Days Out
The January 1, 2027 deadline for the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule is approaching. If your organization touches prior auth workflows, you have 60 days to comply. The penalties are real.
What to do now: Audit your FHIR API implementation, test your patient access API endpoints, and document your compliance procedures. If you are not confident in your readiness, this is the week to engage your compliance team.
3. Telehealth Utilization Has Plateaued
New data from FAIR Health shows telehealth utilization has stabilized at approximately 14% of total medical claims, down from the 2020 peak of 36% but significantly above the pre-pandemic baseline of 0.15%. The era of telehealth growth is over. The era of telehealth optimization has begun.
4. Behavioral Health Investment Remains Strong
Despite broader healthcare funding pullbacks, behavioral health startups raised $1.2B in Q4 2025. The thesis is simple: demand far outstrips supply, reimbursement is improving, and employer benefits are expanding coverage. If you are building in behavioral health, the tailwinds are real.
5. The Quiet Rise of RPM in Value-Based Care
Remote patient monitoring is becoming the backbone of value-based care contracts. Three of the five largest Medicare Advantage plans now require RPM capabilities as a condition of provider network participation. This is no longer optional for providers who want access to the largest patient populations.
Written by Ted. Published under Dr. Marcus Webb's name.
We have been sitting on this one for a while.
Fourteen months ago, our sourcing lead David found a lot from a small washing station in Guji, Ethiopia that stopped him mid-cupping. The blueberry note was unmistakable. Not blueberry-adjacent. Not 'hints of berry.' Actual blueberry, like someone had dropped a handful into the cup.
Natural process Ethiopian coffees are not rare. But ones that maintain that fruit-forward intensity through roasting without becoming fermented or boozy are exceptionally difficult to produce. The margin between transcendent and defective is measured in hours of drying time.
Here is what makes this coffee different:
The cherries were picked at peak ripeness over a three-week harvest window. Only fully ripe cherries made the cut -- no under-ripes, no over-ripes. This selectivity reduces yield by 40% but concentrates the sugars that create the fruit-forward flavor profile.
After picking, the cherries were dried whole on raised African beds for 21 days. This is the critical variable. Too fast, and the sugars do not develop. Too slow, and fermentation produces off-flavors. The station monitors moisture content hourly and adjusts bed coverage based on temperature and humidity.
We roasted this coffee lighter than our typical profile -- City+ rather than Full City. The goal was to preserve the fruit character without introducing roast-derived flavors that would compete with it. The result is a cup that is clean, sweet, and intensely fruity without the heaviness that darker roasts introduce.
Tasting notes: blueberry, dark chocolate, honey, jasmine. Best brewed as a pour-over at 200F with a 1:16 ratio.
We bought the entire lot -- 12 bags, roughly 1,800 pounds. When it is gone, it is gone. This is the kind of coffee that makes us remember why we started this company.
Available now in 12oz bags. Subscribers get first access.
Written by Ted. Published under Elena Torres's name.