Frequently asked questions

Is the free report really free?

Yes. No credit card, no email-then-paywall. You enter your numbers, you get a 6-page vertical-specific PDF emailed to you.

Where do the benchmarks come from?

From three sources, ranked in order of reliability: (1) verified attestations from operators who linked their company domain, (2) anonymized self-reported submissions, (3) public filings from comparable vertical SaaS companies. Every report shows which tier you are looking at.

What if my vertical has fewer than 5 operators in the cohort?

We fall back to the all-vertical-SaaS cohort and flag it in the PDF. We do not silently serve you generic numbers — you always know what you are looking at.

How is my data protected?

Your email and company name are stored to send the PDF and link your reports. IPs are hashed with a daily-rotated salt. We never sell your data and never share individual submissions — only aggregated percentiles.

What is the Premium Report?

A 25-page deep dive with prioritized recommendations, attested-cohort context where available, and a vertical-specific action plan. $49 one-time, 14-day refund.

What is the Annual Subscription?

$199/year. Four quarterly reports per year (H2 2026, H1 2027, H2 2027, H1 2028), each with refreshed cohort data and trend lines. Cancel anytime from the Polar.sh portal in your receipt email.

Refunds?

14-day no-questions refund on every product. Email refunds@operator-index.com and we issue within 3 business days.

Why Polar.sh instead of Stripe?

Polar.sh is a Merchant of Record — they handle tax/VAT collection, chargebacks, and regional payment methods, and they settle to founders in regions Stripe does not yet serve.

Can I sponsor a vertical?

Yes — sponsor inquiries go to VerticalEdge Briefing (our weekly newsletter), where vertical-specific sponsorships sit.