North Star Metrics

Imagine you’re navigating a ship through the vast ocean of business growth. There are countless waves (vanity metrics), unpredictable storms (market changes), and distractions (shiny new objects). But in the midst of it all, there’s one guiding light that keeps you on course—your North Star Metric.

Just like the real North Star has helped sailors find their way for centuries, a North Star Metric helps companies focus on what truly matters. It’s not just a random KPI—it’s the one metric that directly ties to long-term success and customer value.

Every successful company has one key metric that drives its growth, aligns its teams, and reflects the value it delivers to customers. From Airbnb to Spotify, top companies have identified their NSM to stay focused and scale effectively. Let’s take a look at some of the world’s biggest brands and the North Star metrics that power their success.

  • Airbnb – Nights Booked (Measures marketplace success and customer engagement)
  • Spotify – Time Spent Listening (Reflects user engagement and retention)
  • Uber – Rides Completed (Indicates demand, supply efficiency, and market growth)
  • Netflix – Hours Watched per User (Shows content engagement and subscription value)
  • Amazon – Number of Prime Subscribers (Drives recurring revenue and customer loyalty)
  • Facebook (Meta) – Daily Active Users (DAUs) (Represents platform engagement and ad potential)
  • Slack – Messages Sent per Workspace (Indicates product stickiness and team collaboration)
  • YouTube – Watch Time (Key metric for content consumption and ad revenue)
  • Dropbox – Files Saved per User (Reflects product usage and retention)
  • Shopify – Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) (Measures total sales through its platform)

Choosing the right North Star Metric (NSM) is crucial for keeping your team aligned, measuring success, and driving sustainable growth. But there’s no one-size-fits-all metric—every business has unique goals, customers, and operational models. That’s why it’s important to research, experiment, and find the NSM that best reflects your company’s long-term success.

To help get you thinking, here are 50 examples of North Star Metrics from different industries—from hospitality and SaaS to healthcare and retail. Use these as inspiration to define the one metric that truly moves the needle for your business.

Hospitality & Travel

  1. Hotel Chain (e.g., Marriott) – Average Nights Booked per Guest
  2. Airline (e.g., Delta) – Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK) (Total paying customers x distance traveled)
  3. Car Rental Company (e.g., Hertz) – Number of Rental Days per Customer
  4. Cruise Line (e.g., Royal Caribbean) – Occupancy Rate per Voyage

Restaurants & Food Services

  1. Fast Food Chain (e.g., McDonald’s) – Orders Per Store Per Day
  2. Fine Dining Restaurant – Average Revenue per Table Turnover
  3. Food Delivery Service (e.g., DoorDash) – Orders Completed per Active User per Month
  4. Coffee Chain (e.g., Starbucks) – Monthly Active Rewards Members

E-Commerce & Retail

  1. Online Marketplace (e.g., Amazon) – Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV)
  2. Subscription Box Service (e.g., HelloFresh) – Monthly Active Subscribers
  3. Fashion Brand (e.g., Nike) – Repeat Purchase Rate per Customer
  4. Grocery Delivery (e.g., Instacart) – Orders Per Household per Month

Manufacturing & Supply Chain

  1. Automobile Manufacturer (e.g., Tesla) – Vehicles Delivered per Quarter
  2. Electronics Manufacturer (e.g., Apple) – Units Sold per Product Line
  3. Pharmaceutical Company (e.g., Pfizer) – Doses Administered per Region
  4. Warehouse Logistics (e.g., Amazon Fulfillment) – Orders Shipped On-Time

SaaS & Tech

  1. Streaming Service (e.g., Netflix) – Hours Watched per Subscriber
  2. Cloud Storage (e.g., Dropbox) – Files Saved per User per Month
  3. Project Management Tool (e.g., Asana) – Tasks Completed per Active User
  4. Marketing Automation Platform (e.g., HubSpot) – Leads Generated per Customer per Month

Customer Support & Service

  1. Tech Support Team – First Call Resolution Rate (Percentage of issues resolved on the first call)
  2. Call Center (e.g., Verizon Support) – Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) per Interaction
  3. Live Chat Support – Time to First Response (Speed of responding to customer queries)
  4. Help Desk (e.g., Zendesk Support Team) – Tickets Resolved per Agent per Hour

Healthcare & Wellness

  1. Hospital System (e.g., Mayo Clinic) – Patient Recovery Rate
  2. Telemedicine Platform (e.g., Teladoc) – Appointments Completed per Month
  3. Fitness App (e.g., MyFitnessPal) – Daily Active Users Logging Workouts
  4. Health Insurance Provider (e.g., UnitedHealthcare) – Member Retention Rate

Education & Online Learning

  1. Online Course Platform (e.g., Udemy) – Courses Completed per Student
  2. University Admissions Office – Enrollment Conversion Rate (Accepted students who enroll)
  3. EdTech SaaS (e.g., Duolingo) – Daily Active Learning Streaks
  4. Corporate Training Program – Training Completion Rate per Employee

Entertainment & Media

  1. Music Streaming Service (e.g., Spotify) – Time Spent Listening per User
  2. News Media Website (e.g., The New York Times) – Articles Read per Subscriber per Month
  3. Video Gaming Platform (e.g., Steam) – Monthly Active Gamers
  4. Podcast Network – Average Episode Completion Rate

Government & Public Services

  1. Public Transportation System (e.g., NYC Subway) – On-Time Arrival Rate
  2. Postal Service (e.g., USPS) – Packages Delivered On-Time
  3. Public Library System – Books Borrowed per Visitor
  4. City Waste Management – Tons of Recyclables Processed per Month

Construction & Real Estate

  1. Real Estate Marketplace (e.g., Zillow) – Number of Transactions Closed per Month
  2. Home Renovation Company – Projects Completed On-Time
  3. Commercial Property Management – Occupancy Rate per Building
  4. Construction Firm – Projects Completed per Quarter

Startups & Venture Capital

  1. Early-Stage Startup – New Paying Customers per Month
  2. VC Firm (e.g., Sequoia Capital) – Startup Portfolio Growth Rate
  3. Startup Accelerator (e.g., Y Combinator) – Startup Success Rate After Graduation

Sports & Fitness

  1. Professional Sports Team (e.g., Lakers, Manchester United) – Fan Engagement per Game (Tickets + Streaming + Social Media Interactions)
  2. Gym & Fitness Club (e.g., Equinox) – Active Members per Month
  3. Wearable Fitness Device (e.g., Fitbit, WHOOP) – Daily Active Users Logging Workouts

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