{"id":661,"date":"2019-12-05T15:02:07","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T15:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itamargilad.com\/?p=661"},"modified":"2023-10-17T14:10:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:10:48","slug":"the-three-true-north-metrics-that-your-product-and-business-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itamargilad.com\/the-three-true-north-metrics-that-your-product-and-business-need\/","title":{"rendered":"The Three True-North Metrics that Your Product and Business Need"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine finding yourself in an elevator with your CEO or top investor. After a brief hello she lands the big question on you: \u201cHow is the product doing?\u201d You have 30 seconds to answer. A simple \u201call good\u201d won\u2019t cut it \u2014 you need numbers. Your mind runs through your dashboard. Each metric conveys a part of the picture, but in isolation is not meaningful enough and might confuse the exec. If only there was one easy-to-understand metric that would capture it all\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guess what \u2014 it\u2019s not just CEOs and investors that needs this metric. Your team, manager and stakeholders would benefit it from it too, as would you. Too many products and companies have sailed blissfully into failure, simply because they were unable to track the bigger picture clearly. Today, many believe that capturing the true north of your product and business in one metric helps in setting direction, driving focus, measuring progress, creating alignment, and achieving success. It\u2019s a compelling idea, one that Netflix, Booking.com, Ebay, AirBnB, and others have implemented to great effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, there\u2019s a lot of confusion around this topic. In practice companies struggle with settling for just one top KPI, and with good reason. The terms are not very clear either \u2014 North Star Metric, One Metric, top business KPI \u2014 are these all the same? Are they different?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article I\u2019ll summarize what I consider to be the best approach to setting top level metrics. Read on to learn how to put to use this powerful technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Value Loop<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

At its heart, the core mission of every org is to deliver value, ideally to a big market, and to capture value back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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