One number to steer your company
If you track twenty numbers, you're tracking nothing. Pick one that tells you the truth.
A dashboard with twenty numbers makes you feel in control. But when it's time to decide, you don't know which number to believe.
Teams that move fast have one number everyone knows, and every decision gets measured against it.
What the right number looks like
- It reflects real value for the customer. Not downloads, but how many people actually got something out of it.
- It tracks revenue over time. When it goes up, revenue should follow.
- It moves weekly. A number that only changes every quarter teaches you nothing.
- The team can move it. Everyone knows what they can do to push it.
Examples by product type
- Store or ordering platform: completed orders per week
- Software for businesses: active teams per week
- Content app: minutes users spend with the content
- Two-sided marketplace: deals completed between both sides
Watch out for
Vanity numbers: visits, followers, sign-ups that never finished. They feel good, but they don't build a company.
Once you pick your number, put it somewhere everyone sees it daily, and open every weekly meeting with it.
That doesn't mean ignoring every other number. They just serve the main one, not the other way around.
Write it down now: which number, if it doubled next month, would tell you you're on the right track?
Idea from Lenny's Newsletter.
