---
title: "What Is NPS?"
term: "NPS"
description: "NPS — Net Promoter Score — measures customer loyalty by asking how likely users are to recommend a product on a 0–10 scale, then subtracting detractors from promoters."
date: 2026-07-25T00:00:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-25T00:00:00.000Z
topics: ["venture-capital"]
source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/glossary/nps
---

# What Is NPS?

> NPS — Net Promoter Score — measures customer loyalty by asking how likely users are to recommend a product on a 0–10 scale, then subtracting detractors from promoters.

**NPS** (Net Promoter Score) is a customer satisfaction metric based on one question: "How likely are you to recommend this product to a colleague or friend?"

### How it works

Respondents rate 0–10. **Promoters** (9–10) are enthusiastic advocates; **passives** (7–8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic; **detractors** (0–6) may churn or damage brand. NPS = % promoters − % detractors. A score of 40 means promoters exceed detractors by forty percentage points.

Companies survey on a schedule — post-onboarding, quarterly, or after support tickets — and segment by persona, plan tier, or tenure. B2B enterprise NPS differs from consumer benchmarks; compare trends within your segment, not arbitrary cross-industry tables.

Follow-up "why" questions turn NPS from a number into actionable product feedback. Segment promoters and detractors by plan tier and tenure so product and success teams know where advocacy is real versus fragile.

### Why it matters

- **Founders:** Rising NPS after releases validates roadmap bets; falling NPS among paying customers warns before revenue churn appears in lagging metrics.
- **Investors:** NPS supports qualitative diligence on product-market fit but is easy to sample selectively. Pair with retention, expansion, and support ticket themes.

### Common mistake

Quoting a one-time NPS from a friendly user batch as company-wide truth. Methodology — who was surveyed, response rate, and timing — matters as much as the score.

### Related ideas

See also [north star metric](/glossary/north-star-metric), [logo retention](/glossary/logo-retention), customer satisfaction surveys, and cohort retention.

## FAQ

### What is NPS in simple terms?

Survey customers: promoters score 9–10, passives 7–8, detractors 0–6. NPS equals percent promoters minus percent detractors, ranging from -100 to +100. Higher scores suggest word-of-mouth growth potential.

### Why does NPS matter?

For founders, NPS tracks whether product changes help or hurt loyalty. For investors, it is a lightweight signal of satisfaction — most useful when trended over time and segmented by customer type, not as a standalone fundraising metric.


---
Source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/glossary/nps