Balancing Success Metrics: Prioritizing Sustainable Growth

Dear founders, how do you treat your success metrics?

Metrics can either solidify the business narrative or derail a founder’s vision.

Throughout my journey, I've noticed startups in Tech, crypto, and beyond leveraging metrics such as AUM growth or burgeoning token values to fuel employee and investor enthusiasm, even when the revenue barely covers operating costs.

This is because it’s easier to digest data that drives a narrative forward, such as increasing number of sign ups, website traffic, no of clicks – while forgetting what matters to the #business.

Do it too often and founders eventually get caught up in their own bubble.

We saw a similar scenario unfold during the dot-com bubble. Companies promised extraordinary growth and secured funding without verifying product market demand, prioritizing storytelling over business fundamentals. Surging stock prices sparked an investment frenzy, but when reality set in, the bubble—and many cash-strapped dotcom companies—collapsed, taking investors' funds with them.

My team and I have experienced the ever-changing startup landscape, staying vigilant to the decisions and metrics followed in a booming market do not necessarily work in a depressed market.

Considering the lessons we've learned over the past few years, which metric would you prioritize today?