- [?] What are the characteristics of a good metric?
Metrics, data and other numbers where decisions are being made of should be actionable or actually say something meaningful.
You should make sure you don’t have vanity metrics that at best are useless.
Reference
Ries, Eric. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. 1st ed, Crown Business, 2011.
Highlights or timestamps
many startups give in to the temptation of using vanity metrics, flattering but useless or even harmful metrics that make a company look good but don’t help bring it closer to its goals.
— ^ecf005 from The Lean Startup
Other vanity metrics could be the hours of work you’ve already put into a product or the number of milestones you’ve accomplished.
— ^2effa6 from The Lean Startup
To be successful, you must find a sustainable business model and grow a base of customers who use your product, and you can do neither if you’re fixated on the wrong metrics.
— ^5ac7b5 from The Lean Startup