GTM.

Glossary

Vanity metric

A number that reliably goes up and predicts nothing.

Total registered users, cumulative downloads, page views, social followers. They rise on their own and never fall, which is exactly why they get chosen for slides.

The test: if this number doubled tomorrow, would anything about the business actually change? If not, it is decoration, and putting it on the front of a deck tells an investor which numbers you did not want to show.

Related terms

  • Traction — Evidence that people want this, stated in numbers rather than adjectives.
  • Retention — How many customers are still there after a given time.

Read next

See where this number sits in the rubric

The GTM Score is published in full, check by check, so you can see exactly what each figure is worth before you go looking for it.

Start as a founderStart as an investor

Questions: [email protected]