LVR (Lead Velocity Rate)
LVR doesn't measure how many leads you have today. It measures whether your lead generation engine is accelerating or slowing down, month after month.
“An LVR calculated on unqualified raw leads is a chart that goes up and to the right and says nothing about future revenue.”
Otto GTM ObservatoryWhy it's a leading indicator, not a result
LVR measures month-over-month growth of qualified leads, and by construction anticipates commercial results by several months: a strong LVR today translates into pipeline in 60-90 days and revenue in 4-9 months, depending on sales cycle length.
This is why SaaS investors watch it as a proxy for future growth, but only if calculated on genuinely qualified leads: on raw leads it becomes a number that's easy to inflate and has no predictive power.
Anti-patterns
Common mistake: calculating LVR on all raw leads generated, including unqualified traffic and downloads, to show growth that will never translate into real pipeline.
Second mistake: looking at LVR in isolation without cross-checking it against the MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, which can offset (or nullify) the effect of a growing LVR.
Practical Application
A company generates 410 MQLs in March and 468 MQLs in April: LVR = (468 - 410) / 410 = 14.1%. Maintaining this monthly growth rate constant for two quarters, and with a stable 17% MQL-to-SQL rate, generated SQL volume doubles in about 5 months, with a visible effect on pipeline after 60-90 days and on closed ARR after about 7 months.