North Star Metric
The single metric that best captures the core value your product delivers to customers.
Definition
A north star metric (NSM) is the one number that reflects customer value and predicts long-term revenue growth. It aligns the entire company around what matters most. Facebook's NSM was "daily active users." Airbnb's was "nights booked." Slack's was "messages sent." The NSM should be a leading indicator of revenue, not revenue itself.
Why it matters for founders
Without a north star metric, teams optimize for different things and pull in different directions. The NSM creates focus and makes prioritization decisions simpler.
Example
For a food delivery app: "Weekly orders per active customer" is a better NSM than "total orders" because it captures repeat usage (value) rather than just growth.
How Foundra helps
Foundra's Validation Hypotheses card helps you identify what metric must be true for your business to work — which often becomes your north star metric.
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Related terms
Product-Market Fit
When your product satisfies strong market demand.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
The predictable revenue your business generates every month from subscriptions.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who stop using your product in a given period.
Unit Economics
The revenue and costs associated with a single unit of your business (usually one customer).