Live true ↔ naive retention twin for logo cohorts, with a retention ↔ churn twin, cohort identity strip, and survival ladder.
Planning sketch only. Not GAAP/IFRS metrics, audited reporting, or investment advice. Align logo definitions with your finance team.
By Ahmet C. Toplutaş·Site owner & editor · Business tools
Last updated May 21, 2026 · Reviewed May 21, 2026 · Planning estimates only - not tax, medical, or investment advice
01
Logo retention asks what share of the opening cohort is still present at period end. New customers must be peeled out of the ending book first.
This page's framing is a true ↔ naive twin, with a retention ↔ churn twin, a cohort identity strip, and a survival ladder. It is not the annual churn ÷12 compound peel, not CLV's lifespan ladder, and not NRR dollar expansion.
Decision framing: “Are we measuring kept openers, or did End/Start quietly credit new logos as retained?”
Planning sketch only. Not GAAP/IFRS metrics, audited reporting, or investment advice. Align logo definitions with your finance team. See our disclaimers.
02
On a clean logo cohort, churn % = 100% − retention %. The twin keeps both visible so a “90% retention” story is also a “10% churn” story without a second calculator.
03
Start should equal retained + churned. End should equal retained + new. If new exceeds end, the board blocks instead of inventing negative retained logos.
Tip: load Naive trap. Ending book grows, but true retention is far below End/Start.
04
The ladder compounds this period's retention over 1, 3, 6, and 12 identical periods (R^n) to sketch remaining logos if the rate held. Real cohorts vary by month and segment.
05
True retention, complements, and identities.
Example: start 1,000, end 1,050, new 120 → retained 930 → retention 93%, churn 7%. Naive End/Start is 105% and overstates keep.
06
Sibling boards for period churn, annual compounding, lifetime value, and NRR.
07
Scenario A: SaaS steady. 1,000 start, 1,050 end, 120 new → retained 930 → 93% retention / 7% churn. Naive End/Start is 105%.
Load Naive trap: growth in the ending book hides a weaker true keep rate once new logos are peeled.
Scenario B: Shrinking book. End below start with modest new still leaves a clear churned count on the identity strip.
Scenario C: Sticky. High retained share and light new logos. Survival ladder stays elevated at 12 periods on this sketch.
Scenario D: Need year compounding. Hand off to annual churn for the compound-monthly vs ÷12 story.
08
09
10
Stop here for period logo keep rate and the new-customer peel. Hand off for annual compounding traps, monthly snapshots, lifetime value, or dollar NRR. For board reporting, use your finance definitions.
11
It closes logo retention as (ending customers − new customers) ÷ starting customers, then shows the complementary churn rate. A true ↔ naive twin compares that formula to a raw End/Start reading, a cohort identity strip checks Start = retained + churned and End = retained + new, and a survival ladder compounds retention over 1–12 periods.
True retention subtracts new logos from the ending book before dividing by start. Naive retention is simply End/Start, which credits acquisitions as if they were retained openers. The gap is the teaching point when growth masks attrition.
For a clean logo cohort, churn % = 100% − retention %. They are complements on this sketch. Revenue churn and net revenue retention are different tools.
It restates Start = retained + churned and End = retained + new so the three inputs stay consistent. If new exceeds end, the board blocks instead of inventing negative retained logos.
It compounds the period retention rate over 1, 3, 6, and 12 identical periods (R^n) to sketch how many of today’s starters would remain if the rate held. Real cohorts are not constant.
Annual churn focuses on year-scale loss and the compound-monthly vs ÷12 trap. This page owns period retention with an explicit new-customer peel and the End/Start naive trap.
No. It is a planning sketch only. Not GAAP/IFRS metrics, audited reporting, or investment advice. Align definitions with your finance team and see our disclaimers.
LIVE RETENTION BOARD
True ↔ naive →Scene presets
Must be peeled out of end
TRUE ↔ NAIVE TWIN
True (E − N) / S
93.0%
Naive E / S
105.0%
RETENTION ↔ CHURN TWIN
Retention
93.0%
Churn
7.0%
Complements on a clean logo cohort: churn = 100% − retention.
COHORT IDENTITY STRIP
SURVIVAL LADDER
Compounds this period's retention as R^n. Real cohorts are not constant.
Updates as you type. Share writes board state; typing does not rewrite the address bar.
True retention
93.0%
Churn 7.0% · retained 930
True logo retention is the share of the opening cohort still present at period end. New customers must be removed from the ending count first; otherwise growth inflates the rate.
Copy the link to save or share your results.