Introduction

Most startup founders drown in metrics. They track everything from website visitors to social media followers, mistaking activity for progress. The truth is simpler: focus on one primary metric that directly reflects your business health, then use a handful of secondary metrics to understand the drivers behind it.

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The one metric that matters

Your startup should have one primary KPI that everyone on your team knows and cares about. For most B2B SaaS startups, this is either:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) - if you have paying customers
• Weekly Active Users (WAU) - if you’re pre-revenue but have product usage

Everything else is secondary. This doesn’t mean other metrics aren’t important—they help you understand why your primary metric is moving—but they shouldn’t distract from the main goal.

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Why one primary metric works

When you focus on a single metric:

• Everyone aligns around the same goal
• Decision-making becomes clearer - does this help the primary metric?
• You avoid analysis paralysis from tracking too many things
• Resource allocation becomes obvious - invest in what moves the needle

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Secondary metrics that matter

Your primary metric tells you what is happening. Secondary metrics tell you why:

• If MRR is your primary metric, track new customer acquisition, churn rate, and expansion revenue
• If WAU is your primary metric, track new signups, activation rate, and engagement depth

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Vanity vs actionable metrics

Vanity metrics make you feel good but don’t drive decisions:

• Total users registered
• Page views
• Social media followers
• App downloads

Actionable metrics directly connect to business outcomes:

• Active users (not just registered)
• Conversion rates
• Revenue per customer
• Customer acquisition cost

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The startup metrics framework

As your startup grows, your metrics focus will evolve:

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Common metric mistakes

Tracking too many things: More metrics don’t mean better insights. Start with 3-5 total metrics.

Focusing on absolute numbers over rates: Growth rate matters more than absolute size for startups.

Ignoring cohort analysis: Understanding how different customer groups behave over time is crucial.

Measuring outputs instead of outcomes: Track the business impact, not just the activity.

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Getting started with metrics

1. Choose your primary KPI based on your current stage and business model
2. Identify 2-3 secondary metrics that drive your primary KPI
3. Set up proper tracking to measure these consistently
4. Review weekly with your team to drive alignment
5. Iterate monthly on which metrics to focus on as you learn

The rest of this guide will walk you through each category of metrics, how to calculate them, and most importantly, how to act on them. Remember: the goal isn’t to track everything—it’s to track the right things that help you build a successful business.