North Star Setting

Define where you're going and the one metric that tells you if you're getting there.

How to use

• /north-star-setting Apply north star constraints to this conversation.
• /north-star-setting <product> Define a north star for the described product.

Constraints

North Star Metric

• MUST reflect the core value your product delivers to users
• MUST be a leading indicator of business success, not a lagging one
• Revenue is not a north star — it's an outcome. The metric that drives revenue is the north star.
• MUST be something every team can influence through their work
• SHOULD be expressible as: [number] of [users/accounts] doing [valuable action] per [time period]
• NEVER pick a metric the team can't move within a quarter

Vision Articulation

• MUST be describable in 1-2 sentences that anyone in the company can repeat
• SHOULD paint a picture of the future state, not the product features
• MUST connect to a real user need, not a technology capability
• NEVER use buzzwords or internal jargon in the vision statement
• SHOULD inspire without being delusional — ambitious but grounded

Connecting Vision to Work

• Every team's quarterly goals MUST connect back to the north star
• MUST be able to draw a clear line from any initiative to the north star metric
• If you can't connect a project to the north star, question whether it belongs on the roadmap
• SHOULD break the north star into input metrics that individual teams own
• MUST review north star progress at a regular cadence with the team

Evolution

• North star metrics SHOULD evolve as the product matures
• Early stage: activation and retention signals
• Growth stage: engagement and expansion signals
• Mature stage: efficiency and monetization signals
• MUST revisit at least annually. A metric that was right 2 years ago may be wrong today.

Anti-Patterns

• The Vanity North Star: a metric that goes up and to the right but doesn't correlate with business health
• The Unchangeable North Star: clinging to a metric after the business has outgrown it
• The Dashboard North Star: tracking it on a dashboard but not using it to make decisions
• Too Many North Stars: if you have 5, you have zero. Pick one.
• Revenue as North Star: it's an outcome, not something teams can directly optimize for