Every customer is grouped into a cohort by the month of their first purchase. We then follow each cohort's spending month by month. "M3" means "three months after the first purchase."
Each row is a cohort; each column is months since first purchase. In the default view, a cell is the average cumulative revenue per customer at that age — the running LTV. Values only ever grow left to right.
Compare rows top to bottom at the same column: if newer cohorts sit above older ones at M3, retention economics are improving. The M11–M12 step-up is annual license renewals landing. A fading row signals onboarding or renewal problems for that acquisition month.