Article · 8 min read

Setting KPIs and Goals

Y Combinator Startup Library Free Beginner

This is the piece that pushes you to write down your success number before you launch, exactly the discipline our answer asks for. It's a quick read on how to pick one goal that's specific enough to actually fail at.

  • Set the target number before the event, not after, so you can't move the goalposts
  • A good KPI is specific and time-bound, not a vague aspiration
  • Review the goal against the actual result honestly, even when it stings

The question it answers

  1. How do I actually measure whether a launch worked, beyond the vanity upvotes and traffic spike?

Read with it

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  2. The reference primer on the metrics and market-sizing logic investors use, including bottom-up market sizing that keeps... a16z Article · ~15 min read 16 Startup Metrics Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
  3. The origin text for the modern MVP and validated-learning vocabulary every founder now uses. Read it for the mental model that... theleanstartup.com Book · ~330 pages The Lean Startup Eric Ries
  4. The definitive talk that reframes launching from a one-shot event into a repeatable tactic, exactly this category's thesis. YC... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Launch (Again and Again) Kat Manalac (Y Combinator)
  5. When there is no category report to point at, you have to build the number yourself, and this is the essay that teaches you... Andreessen Horowitz Essay · ~20 min read 16 More Startup Metrics Anu Hariharan, Frank Chen, Jeff Jordan
  6. PostHog gives you product analytics and session replay in one place, so you can see both what people did (events, funnels) and... posthog.com Tool PostHog PostHog
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