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I’ve built and sold two SaaS companies, and I was the Portfolio Director for a $36M fund where I helped grow the fund’s largest SaaS portfolio.
One of my favorite things to coach SaaS CEOs and leadership on was finding their North Star Metric. Sometimes it was obvious. Other times, it took digging, testing, and serious metric-crunching.
But one thing was always clear, if your guiding light was revenue, you were doing it wrong.
Revenue is a result, not a direction.
The teams that grow consistently rallied around one metric that truly matters. A metric that reflects real customer value. A metric that, when it moves, everything else follows.
That number is your North Star Metric.
What’s a North Star Metric?
It’s the one metric that best reflects the growth of your SaaS or startup. It’s your leading indicator—when it moves, revenue follows.
That said, your North Star should never be revenue. That’s like staring at your bank account hoping it’ll magically grow. It won’t.
My 5-Step Framework to Find Your North Star Metric:
- Start with the Core Value
Ask: What’s the real value our product delivers?
Think in outcomes, not features. What are users here to accomplish? - Make Sure It’s Measurable
If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t count. You need to track this metric consistently over time without guessing. - You Need to Be Able to Impact It
Your team should be able to influence it through product, marketing, onboarding, or support. Otherwise, what’s the point? - It Should Drive Revenue.
When your north star metric goes up or down, your revenue will typically follow. - It should Align with Retention
Your NSM should correlate with long-term retention. When it’s achived your retention curve should be long and flat.
You Have to Track It Every Week
Here’s the thing: knowing your North Star isn’t enough. You’ve gotta actually track it—weekly—and keep it front and center in your team’s rhythm.
That’s exactly why we built space for it into your weekly Marvelous meetings.
No extra spreadsheets. No guesswork. Just focus.
If your North Star Metric is moving up, your business should be too.
Examples of SaaS North Star Metrics
Here are a few examples from companies you probably know:
- Slack – Messages Sent per Workspace
- Spotify – Time Spent Listening
- Airbnb – Nights Booked
- Dropbox – Files Saved per User
- Zoom – Meeting Minutes per User
- Notion – Collaborative Edits per Workspace
- HubSpot – Weekly Active Teams Using 3+ Tools
- Duolingo – Daily Learning Streaks
- Canva – Designs Published
- Facebook – Daily Active Users
These aren’t just “nice to know” metrics.
They drive product, marketing, and roadmap decisions.
What You Should Do This Week
- Pick one North Star Metric that actually reflects your product’s core value
- Add it to your weekly Marvelous meeting (there’s a space for it right at the top)
- Assign it to someone
- Watch what happens over the next 4 weeks
Final Thoughts
If you’re serious about growth, don’t waste your team’s energy chasing every number.
Instead, align around one clear, meaningful metric that shows you’re delivering value—and build your weekly rhythm around it.
That’s how you create momentum. That’s how you grow.
That’s what we do every week in Marvelous.
– Marvin