Build a simple dashboard around the few numbers that predict whether your business grows.
Marketing & GrowthPDF · 6 pages· v1.0
4.4A free, no-nonsense guide to the handful of growth metrics that actually predict whether a business grows — and how to assemble them into a dashboard you'll genuinely use. Most teams drown in vanity metrics (pageviews, raw follower counts, total signups) that feel good and predict nothing. This guide cuts through the noise. It defines the core acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue metrics in plain language, shows how they connect through the funnel, and explains the relationships that determine whether your growth is sustainable — most importantly the link between customer acquisition cost and lifetime value. It is written for founders and marketers who want to make decisions from data without becoming analysts. No statistics background is required; every metric is defined with a worked example. The outcome: a clear mental model of the numbers that matter, a one-page dashboard layout you can build in a spreadsheet or your analytics tool, and the judgment to ignore vanity metrics. You will understand CAC, LTV, the LTV-to-CAC ratio and payback period, activation and retention rates, and why retention is the quiet foundation of all sustainable growth. Includes a one-page dashboard layout, definitions with worked examples, the vanity-vs-actionable metric distinction, and benchmark ranges.
Yes. This guide is offered free as a foundation; the paid guides in this category build on the metrics defined here.
There isn't one, but if forced to choose: retention. The guide explains why a product people keep using makes every other metric work, and why poor retention can't be fixed by more acquisition.
A common rule of thumb is roughly 3:1 — you earn about three times in lifetime value what it costs to acquire a customer. The guide explains the ratio, payback period, and why context matters more than any single number.
No. The dashboard can live in a spreadsheet. The guide shows the layout and the inputs; you can upgrade to analytics tools later.
Read the full refund policy and trust & safety terms.