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Netflix used to brag about how many shows they produced each year. And then they realized something important. Quantity didn't mean people were watching or staying subscribed. They shifted to measuring how many shows people actually finished watching and how likely viewers were to keep their subscription after watching certain programs. This change helped them make better decisions about which shows to fund and how to keep subscribers happy. Melissa Perry, in her excellent product management book Escaping the Build Trap, says product metrics are the lifeblood of every product manager. Keeping a pulse on your product is crucial for knowing when you should act and where. Now, there are many different types of metrics and it's important to understand each type, when they might be used, and some of the challenges associated with them. Let me just cover a handful of different types here. First up are quantitative metrics. These are the numbers that we can count things like how many users log in each day, how many errors pop up, or how long it takes to complete a task. Then there's qualitative metrics. These tell us about quality and experience. These come from user feedback. Maybe that's surveys or even watching how people actually use your product. When I was a product owner for a mobile app, we would turn on the camera and the microphone on users mobile devices, with their permission of course. And we'd watch their facial expressions as they interacted with the app. Were they smiling or did they look confused? We could cross reference that to the real time data coming in about what they were doing and they could even speak to us if they wanted to. That's more of a qualitative measurement. Both types matter. Quantitative and qualitative numbers, well, that tells us what's happening. But user feedback, that tells us why. Okay, another type of metric has a really cool name. Pirate metrics, Created by Dave McClure, the founder of 500 Startups, focuses on the life cycle of your product. They track acquisition. That's how users find your product. Activation, the user's first experience with your product. Keeping your users well, that's called retention. And referral is that beautiful moment when users tell others about how awesome your product is. Finally, users paying for your product because it solves problems. That's revenue ARR for short. Are you ready kids? Aye aye captain. Now I'm a big Spotify fan, so let's look at how they use these metrics. Acquisition at Spotify starts with tracking how people discover their app through ads, word of mouth or partner devices like Samsung Phones activation. For them it isn't just downloads, it's when someone creates their first playlist or follows their first artist. That's when they know a user has found real value retention. Well, they measured in weekly active users, but more importantly in listening time per user. I found this really interesting. People who listen to more than 15 hours a month rarely cancel their membership. Referral metrics go beyond counting shares. Spotify tracks full referral loops. For example, when you share a playlist, do your friends listen to all of it? To they listen to it just once? Is it on repeat? Do they become active users themselves? And then revenue metrics? Well, those aren't just subscription numbers. They track lifetime value. They found premium users who discover new music through the recommendations stay subscribed 20% longer. Alright, so there's three different types of metrics. Quantitative, qualitative and ARR metrics. Here's a simple way to think about all of these metrics. They should help you answer Are we building the right thing? And are we building it right? Picking your metrics early and getting agreement from your stakeholders changes everything. When we identify our metrics at the start, three powerful things happen. First, it creates true alignment. Everyone, stakeholders, developers, designers knows exactly what we're aiming for. There is no debate about what success looks like because we've already defined it together. Second, it ensures we can actually measure what matters. Building in measurement capabilities from the beginning is much easier than trying to bolt them on later. We can set up the right tracking, create the proper data collection points and make sure everything's in place before launch. And and third, it brings clarity to decision making. With clear metrics, established teams can make better choices during development. And stakeholders, they can confidently assess if the product is meeting its goals. Early metric identification isn't just good planning, it's the foundation of successful product development. Does that mean we figured it all out right the first time or right at the very beginning? No, probably not. But the trick is starting with metrics that matter most, knowing we can adjust as we learn more. Having that North Star from the beginning, it guides your work and it keeps everyone focused on the same goals.