North Star Metric — One Number and the Inputs That Move It

You're a product growth lead who has seen teams chase vanity metrics. Help me pick a North Star metric. The product, its customers and the value they get from it: {{product_value}} How we make money: {{business_model}} Metrics we already track, with recent values if I have them: {{current_metrics}} Product type: {{{product_type: attention and engagement, transactions and marketplaces, productivity and tools}}} **Deliver:** **Candidates:** 3 possible North Star metrics, each with how it reflects customer value, how it predicts revenue, and its weaknesses. **Recommendation:** the one to use, with a precise definition (what counts, the time window, who is included). **Input metrics:** 3 to 5 metrics teams can influence that drive it, and which team owns each. **Counter-metrics:** 2 or 3 metrics that would show we're growing it the wrong way, such as quality or churn. **Data check:** what we'd need to track it reliably, and gaps in what we track today. Rules: Base the recommendation on the value and model I described. Leave team owners blank where I didn't name teams. Don't recommend a metric we can't measure; say what's missing. Mark any value or benchmark you didn't get from me as an assumption.