North Star Metric

Definitions

1. The single metric that best captures the core value a product delivers to customers. Unlike vanity metrics (page views, downloads), the North Star Metric reflects genuine engagement and predicts long-term growth. Spotify's is 'time spent listening,' Airbnb's is 'nights booked,' Slack's is 'messages sent within teams.'

   In plain English: The one number that best represents whether your product is delivering real value to customers.

   Example: "Our north star metric is 'weekly active projects' — it captures both user engagement and the value they're getting from the product."

Related Terms

• Blitzscaling
• Product-Led Growth
• Network Effect
• Product-Market Fit
• Total Addressable Market
• Flywheel
• Series A
• Net Dollar Retention
• PLG
• Key Metric
• Viral Coefficient