Measurement is a comparison of something against an established measure, in order to know where we are and if we are improving against past metrics.
How to measure performance and progress in your startup
As the main element of a culture based on measuring results, we must look for an attitude in people, to capture, analyze and decide based on data. Other elements to consider on how to measure are the following.
How to incentivize measurement?
Make mistakes without fear
- Mistakes, besides being inevitable, are a big part of our work because they will teach us a lot, through the analysis we give them, therefore we must normalize them and encourage to accept mistakes without fear but with learning, to improve more and more.
Mistakes are very important for our work because they give us valuable lessons if we know how to analyze them. Therefore, we must normalize accepting mistakes and learning from them, having fun and enjoying the progress.
Pay attention to older people
- Older people may be overwhelmed by the amount of work and refuse to try new ways of doing things. We may find that we have good consultants but no talent, so we should end the contract with them to affect the motivation of the team as little as possible.
Be an example of discipline for your team
- Discipline can be developed in any human being, so there is no excuse to leave it aside, for this it is important that we as leaders set an example and practice discipline by following objectives and learning from mistakes.
What metrics should you measure?
Measure the right metrics
- Measuring the right things is crucial to avoid falling into vanity metrics that detract from growth or survival. Generally, the important metrics are in revenue and investment and real customer value. For these important metrics, we must build a central dashboard that collects them all and monitor them systematically to ensure their health.
Some good metrics to measure are:
- Monthly recurring revenue
- Customer acquisition cost
Iterate constantly
- Iteration is taking the feedback we have received from consumers or the hypothesis that was tested and changing elements of the hypothesis in an intelligent way to try again. To have a good iteration we must make sure to measure what is really important, because measuring poorly is worse than not measuring at all.
Why it is important to measure execution and progress in your startup
The importance of measurement lies in the fact that it gives us the information we need to make decisions and changes that positively impact our goals.
Effectively focusing our energies on what will lead us faster to meet our goals by measuring the things that matter. Also, if we don't have the right information to learn, it is very possible that our startup will die by not adapting quickly to strive for its mission.
Contribution created with contributions from: Ismael H (Platzi Contributor).
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