Onboarding is a critical metric in software companies, often overlooked in discussions about annual recurring revenue (ARR), churn, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and customer lifetime value (LTV). It is the first step in the customer journey and defines every subsequent experience. A great onboarding experience can reinforce customers’ decisions, while a confusing one can erode trust. Great onboarding creates upstream value, as it leads to expansion, retention, and referrals. Positive customer metrics are often downstream of onboarding, such as expansion, retention, and referrals. Companies should regularly report onboarding performance in leadership meetings and board decks, as it is an important leading indicator of customer health, revenue growth, and operational efficiency. Some onboarding metrics suggested by the author include Time To First Value, Onboarding Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Customer Outcome Achievement, and Onboarding Risks. These metrics are not vanity metrics but early warning systems for potential issues. Onboarding should be a cross-functional effort that spans product, sales, marketing, and leadership. Product needs to ensure an intuitive experience, sales set realistic expectations, marketing supports post-sale engagement, and leadership invests in tools, processes, and people to make it work at scale. Ignoring onboarding can lead to wasted CAC, delayed launches, and dissatisfied customers. Companies that nail onboarding often see faster time to revenue recognition, higher net retention, new champions, and use cases. Treating onboarding like a mirror can help companies identify misalignment, friction, and missed opportunities. By investing in onboarding, companies can become growth engines and revenue levers, leading to better financial outcomes.