A North Star Metric (NSM) is a key metric that represents the value your company delivers to its customers and guides long-term growth. While short-term growth focuses on quick wins, a strong NSM drives sustainable success by focusing on customer retention and satisfaction. For example:

• Facebook: Monthly active users
• Spotify: Time spent listening
• Airbnb: Number of nights booked
• Uber: Rides per week
• Amazon: Number of purchases per month
• Slack: Daily active users
• Quora: Number of questions answered

The idea behind the NSM is simple: if your customers consistently receive value, they’ll stick around, buy more, and refer others, leading to growth in all areas of your business.

The King Revenue is Dead, Long Live The King

While revenue is important, it reflects what customers pay, not the value they receive. Focusing solely on revenue might lead to short term gains but a well chosen NSM ensures long term customer loyalty and growth.

We too in Candy Draw at various companies we have worked in/with have traditionally focused on revenue targets as at the end of the day a company must hit a number to pay its bills. However through trial and errors we have moved onto focusing on customer value as it is how you acquire and retain you customers. 

Benefits of a North Star Metric

A good NSM benefits your company by:

1. Creating Focus: It aligns your entire company toward a single growth goal.
2. Providing Clarity: It offers a clear snapshot of how well your company is performing.
3. Encouraging Customer-Centricity: It shifts focus from short-term profits to long-term customer value.

KPIs Is How You Date Your North Star Metric

• NSM: Guides the entire company toward long-term growth.
• KPI: A short-term focus, usually for a specific team or project lasting 2-6 months.

While NSM is a broader, long-term metric for the entire company, KPIs is project based and changes more frequently to address immediate needs to achieve your NSM.

8 Steps to Find Your North Star Metric

1. Identify your customer’s “success” moments. What is the key moment that defines when your customer gets value from your product?
2. Ensure your NSM expresses value to the customer, not just a marketing metric.
3. Make it measurable—focus on specific actions or outcomes.
4. Tie it to a time frame (daily, weekly, monthly) so you can track progress.
5. Keep it within your control—choose a metric you can directly influence.
6. Make sure it reflects growth—if your NSM increases, so should your business.
7. It should impact the entire Pirate Funnel (acquisition, activation, retention, etc.).
8. Ensure it provides frequent feedback, so you can adjust strategies as needed.

By identifying and focusing on the right NSM, your company can align its growth strategy for long-term success, ensuring that value for your customers directly translates into sustained business growth.

Need help identifying your NSM? Contact Candy Draw to start discussing your north star metric growth strategy.