Growth & Marketing

What growth metrics should I actually track as an early-stage startup?

A starting point

Track one North Star metric that captures real customer value (weekly active users, orders shipped, revenue retained) plus the inputs that move it. Ignore vanity numbers like total signups or app downloads; measure the point where users get value and how many come back. Fewer metrics, checked weekly, beat a 40-line dashboard nobody reads.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it's here.

Read

📄 Article
Free Intermediate

Growth Loops Are the New Funnels

From Reforge Blog by Brian Balfour & Reforge team ~15 min read

Why we picked it

The canonical explanation of why linear funnels break and self-reinforcing growth loops compound, from the team that trains growth leaders at top tech companies.

  • Funnels are one-directional and decay; loops feed their own output back into new-user input.
  • Every retained user should generate the next user through content, referral, or reinvested revenue.
  • Designing loops forces you to think about defensibility and compounding, not one-off campaigns.
Open reforge.com →
📄 Article
Freemium Intermediate

The North Star Playbook & Choosing Your Growth Metrics

From Lenny's Newsletter by Lenny Rachitsky ~20 min read

Why we picked it

Lenny distills how the best product teams pick a single North Star that captures real customer value and drives the whole growth model, with concrete company examples.

  • A good North Star metric measures delivered customer value, not vanity signups.
  • Break the North Star into a small set of input metrics you can actually move.
  • Fewer, well-chosen metrics reviewed weekly beat sprawling dashboards nobody reads.
Open lennysnewsletter.com →
📄 Article
Free Intermediate

Positioning (Startup Handbook: brand and marketing foundations)

From julian.com by Julian Shapiro 20 min read

Why we picked it

Julian Shapiro's growth handbook frames brand and messaging as downstream of who you're for and what you replace, practical foundations, not brand theory.

  • Brand is a consistent promise and feeling, not a logo
  • Mine customer language from calls, reviews and communities
  • Nail who you're for before investing in visual polish
Open julian.com →

People also ask

How do I know if I have product-market fit before I try to grow? Run the Sean Ellis survey: if 40% or more of users would be 'very disappointed' without your product, you likely have fit worth scaling. Below that... Beginner 2 resources → What is a growth loop and why is it better than a funnel? A funnel pushes users in one direction and dies at the bottom; a growth loop is a self-reinforcing system where the output of one user (content, re... Intermediate 2 resources → What are the 'four fits' I need before growth compounds? Brian Balfour's model: market-product, product-channel, channel-model, and model-market fit all have to line up. Growth feels effortless when they ... Advanced 2 resources → How should I set up a simple growth model or dashboard? Model growth as an equation: new + resurrected users minus churned, broken down by your two or three real acquisition channels. Build it in a sprea... Intermediate 3 resources → Why did my marketing channel stop working after a few months? This is Andrew Chen's Law of Shitty Clickthroughs: every channel decays as novelty fades and competitors pile in. Nothing's broken with you; the ch... Intermediate 2 resources → What does 'branding' actually mean for an early-stage startup? Branding isn't a logo, it's the consistent promise and feeling people associate with you. Early on it's mostly your positioning, your voice, and do... Beginner 2 resources →