Imagine flying a plane where can’t see the altitude, speed, or fuel levels. Terrifying, right? 

Unfortunately, many founders operate startups exactly this way—flying blind without having a clear set of metrics to guide them.

If you speak to the most successful VCs in the world, here are the 3 things they will tell you:

1) Behind every “overnight success” is a founder obsessed with the right metrics

These founders are not just collecting numbers—they’re hunting for specific metrics that will allow them to engineer explosive growth.

Take Facebook’s early days. Their team had discovered that new users who connected with seven or more friends within their first ten days had dramatically higher retention rates. Below that threshold, users abandoned the platform. 

This “magic number” became an obsession.

2) Companies don’t scale by accident

The best founders create a culture where mission is measured, performance is clear, and everyone understands what drives success.

When investing in startups, you have to look for founders who can instantly tell you their North Star metric. If they can’t reveal their single most important number without hesitation, they probably lack focus.

The best companies choose metrics that directly correlate to customer value. Here are some examples:

• Two-sided marketplaces focus on completed transactions: Airbnb tracks “nights booked”; Uber measures “rides completed”
• B2B SaaS companies monitor active usage: Salesforce tracks “average records in account”; Asana follows “weekly active subscribers”
• Consumer tech tracks engagement: Facebook obsesses over “daily active users”; Netflix measures “watch time”

3) Retention is strongly correlated to long-term potential

Retention is the heartbeat of sustainable growth.

For B2B startups, look at recurring revenue and expansion metrics. The strongest B2B companies turn customers into growth engines through upsells, cross-sells, and expanded usage.

For consumer startups, the question is even simpler: do users keep coming back? A company may very well go viral, acquire millions of users, and still die if retention is poor.

Poor retention is like filling a leaky bucket. For example, a mere 7% monthly churn compounds to 58% annually — meaning a company must replace over half of their customers every year before they can grow.

What this means for you as an investor?

Before writing that next check, ask yourself these questions:

• Is the founder focused on the right metrics? 
• Does the company have strong retention?
• Is growth coming from happy customers expanding their usage?

There are no miracles in VC. There is no magic. It’s all about metrics.

What are the things you look for when investing in startups?