I've seen startup dashboards with 50+ metrics. Founders proudly showing off their analytics setup, tracking everything from button hover times to scroll depth.
It's all noise. Worse, it's dangerous noise that distracts from what actually matters.
The Vanity Metric Trap
Vanity metrics are numbers that look impressive but don't drive decisions. Page views, registered users, social media followers - they feel good but they don't pay bills.
“If a metric doesn't change how you act, it's not worth tracking.”
The 5 Metrics That Matter
After working with 127+ startups, these are the only metrics we obsess over:
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) - The money actually coming in. Not projections. Not "potential." Actual dollars.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) - How much it costs to get a paying customer. If this is higher than their lifetime value, you're dying slowly.
- Churn Rate - What percentage of customers leave each month. Even small churn compounds into disaster.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) - Would your customers recommend you? This predicts growth better than anything else.
- Runway - How many months until you're dead. This should be on your bathroom mirror.
The Daily Health Check
Every morning, before checking email, check these three numbers:
- New signups in the last 24 hours
- Active users in the last 24 hours
- Revenue in the last 24 hours
That's it. If these three numbers are trending up, you're probably doing okay. If any of them are trending down, you need to understand why.
The Weekly Deep Dive
Once a week, look at the full picture:
- Conversion rates through your funnel
- Cohort retention (are users from 30 days ago still active?)
- Support ticket volume and themes
- Infrastructure costs vs. revenue
The Bottom Line
More data isn't better. Actionable data is better. Pick your 5 metrics, track them religiously, and ignore everything else.
The founders who win aren't the ones with the best dashboards. They're the ones who know their numbers cold and act on them fast.
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