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Product

North Star Metric

Also known as north star metric, nsm

The single number that best captures the value your product delivers — the one metric the whole team rallies around.

Example

For Airbnb it was "nights booked"; for a chat app it might be "messages sent per week".

Related terms

Retention
The share of customers who keep using your product over time. The opposite of churn — high retention is a sign of a product people love.
Activation
The moment a new user first experiences real value from your product — the "aha" that makes them likely to stick around.

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