dragoon0x 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-settingApply 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