Required monthly growth, solved.
Open this calculator as an editable Google Sheet — your inputs and live formulas, ready to fork.
This free calculator solves for the monthly growth rate required to get from where you are to a goal by a deadline, and shows the annualized equivalent.
How to calculate required growth rate
Required monthly rate = (goal ÷ current) raised to the power of (1 ÷ months), minus 1. The annualized equivalent is (1 + monthly rate) to the 12th power, minus 1. Both are compound rates — they assume each month grows on top of the last, which is how real growth accrues.
How to read the result
Seed-stage companies often target 15–20% month over month, Series A 10–15%, and Series B 5–10%. If the required rate sits far above your stage's band, the goal or the timeline is the thing to revisit — not the effort. Below 5% monthly, the structure is usually the bottleneck.
Worked example
Going from $10,000 to $100,000 in 18 months requires about 13.6% monthly compounding — roughly a 357% annual rate. Tenfold in a year and a half sounds aggressive, but as a monthly rate it is a steady, seed-stage cadence held without a break.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate monthly growth rate?
- Divide the goal by the current value, raise it to the power of one over the number of months, then subtract one: rate = (goal / current)^(1/months) − 1.
- What is a good monthly growth rate for a startup?
- It depends on stage: roughly 15–20% per month at seed, 10–15% at Series A, and 5–10% at Series B. Y Combinator often cites 5–7% weekly as a strong early signal.
- How do you convert a monthly growth rate to annual?
- Compound it: annual rate = (1 + monthly rate)^12 − 1. A 10% monthly rate compounds to roughly 214% per year, not 120%.