What traction metrics matter before approaching VCs? (coolwebtool.com)

I’m building a B2B SaaS in the AI + SEO tooling space.

Current stage:

Live product

Paying users but low MRR

Clear roadmap

Founder led sales

Trying to decide when VC outreach makes sense.

Is it:

$5k MRR?

10% MoM growth?

Strong retention cohorts?

Pipeline visibility?

For those who’ve successfully raised, what concrete metric flipped the conversation from “too early” to “let’s talk”?