Why Successful Founders Track Everything (Except what actually matters)

The hidden cost of measuring the wrong things

I was two hours into a project when I stopped and asked myself a question that changed everything.

“What’s the success metric here?”

I sat there. Stared at my screen. And realized I had no fucking idea.

Not “the task is done.” That’s not a metric. That’s just checking a box.

I mean a real success metric. More revenue. More signups. More time back. Something tangible that moves my business or my life forward.

And I didn’t have one.

So I stopped working on it. Right there. Mid-task. Never touched it again.

That was three years ago. I still don’t know what that project was supposed to accomplish.

The metric trap

Here’s what nobody tells you about metrics: tracking the wrong ones is worse than tracking nothing at all.

Because when you measure the wrong things, you fool yourself into thinking you’re making progress.

You’re busy. You’re working hard. Your dashboards look great.

And your business isn’t moving.

73% of small business owners report tracking metrics regularly. But most of them are tracking vanity metrics that don’t connect to revenue, retention, or real growth. They’re measuring social media impressions, email open rates, website traffic, and time spent “working.”

None of those pay your bills.

The real question

When you’re small (under $500K), there’s only one metric that matters: revenue.

Does this task make you money? Does it help make you money? No? Then why are you working on it?

I don’t care how “important” it feels. I don’t care if your competitor does it. If it doesn’t connect to revenue, eliminate it.

As you get bigger, the question shifts slightly. If you can’t measure what success looks like, you shouldn’t be working on it.

Period.

If you can’t define success, you’re wasting time.