By Teresa Torres · producttalk.org · @ttorres on X · LinkedIn
Torres argues that before choosing metrics, teams must define what success looks like for their specific product, because it differs widely across businesses. She illustrates this with three examples: a price comparison engine where success meant acquisition cost below merchant payout, a white-label community platform focused on engagement, and a college job board measured by hires. In each case she maps the product into a funnel of user behaviors and tracks movement between steps. Her closing advice is to identify the repeated behavior that would signal success and work backward from that end goal. The piece matters because it turns the abstract idea of measuring what matters into a concrete, reusable exercise.
01Key takeaways
- Define what success looks like for your specific product before choosing any metrics.
- Map your product into a funnel of user behaviors that leads to the success outcome.
- Track conversion between each funnel step to find where users drop off.
- Look for the repeated behavior that, if it happened over and over, would make your product successful.
- Start with the desired end state and work backward, as Stephen Covey suggests.
02Key sections
- Defining success per product
- Success is not universal; it depends on the product's business model and what the company needs to achieve.
- E-commerce traffic arbitrage
- A price comparison business measured success by the margin between traffic acquisition cost and merchant payout, with tight funnel optimization.
- Community engagement platform
- A community software company tracked a funnel from email opens through content creation, pushing users to deeper activity at each step.
- Job board outcomes
- A career platform defined success as students getting hired, mapping the funnel from viewing jobs to landing offers.
- Applying the approach
- Readers are invited to identify the repeated behavior that signals product success and work backward from that outcome.
03From the post
“Now that I've told you to measure what matters, let's talk about what that means. A good place to start is by asking, what does success look like? It varies with every product. Let's look at a few examples: An e-commerce site. When I worked at”
04Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.