7 Startup Engineering Metrics Every Investor Should Track

Seven engineering metrics from public GitHub data help investors evaluate startup momentum: (1) commit velocity – 14-day rolling baseline, (2) commit velocity change – the primary signal, measuring acceleration, (3) contributor count – team size proxy, (4) contributor growth rate – the most reliable fundraise predictor at 50%+, (5) new repository count – signals infrastructure buildout, (6) weekend commit ratio – indicates deadline pressure, and (7) language/framework distribution – reveals technical maturity. A startup that passes all five quick-screen checks (positive velocity change, contributor growth, new repos, product-related activity, matching tech stack) is worth a deeper look.