When setting goals for your primary metric, aim for a weekly growth rate. This approach allows for frequent feedback and helps break down progress into manageable chunks.

For consumer startups, achieving at least 15% month-on-month growth in active users is ideal, with 10% being acceptable, while 5% is likely insufficient for long-term viability.

Metrics and goals are only useful if leveraged as motivational tools; create a visual representation of your growth targets and update it regularly to keep your focus.

For consumer startups, tracking headline user growth is crucial because monetization often comes later, and a good growth rate is 15% month-over-month, which can lead to a 5x increase in user base annually.

When setting your goals, define them based on what you believe is ambitious and achievable for your product, rather than what others are doing.

OKRs must be measurable; for example, instead of saying 'make Gmail a success,' a clear objective would be 'launch Gmail in September and achieve one million users by November.'

Startups should aim for exponential growth goals instead of linear goals to maximize their potential.

If your startup has strong network effects, focusing on active users may be more important initially, with revenue becoming a focus later on. It's crucial to define what 'users' means for your startup, as it can vary significantly. For example, having 100 users could mean they just signed up or that they actively engage with your product daily for about 10 minutes. The latter is a much more valuable metric.

Setting a metric and goal for your team allows for data-driven operations, where you can monitor progress daily and adjust strategies accordingly. A low retention rate, like 6.25% after four weeks, indicates poor product-market fit; aim for at least 20-30%.