OMTM vs. NSM: Why You Need Both to Drive Startup Growth

Ben Yoskovitz and I write a shared post about two key startup concepts: The One Metric That Matters and the North Star Metric

I’ve known Ben Yoskovitz for over a decade. He’s a sharp thinker, a successful founder, and coauthor of Lean Analytics—a book that’s become foundational reading for anyone building a startup with data. Ben introduced the world to the concept of the One Metric That Matters, and he’s helped countless teams focus their efforts and find traction.

Recently, Ben and I started talking about how the One Metric That Matters (OMTM) and the North Star Metric (NSM) are often misunderstood—or worse, treated as conflicting ideas. I’ve long been a strong advocate for the NSM because I’ve seen how powerful it can be in aligning teams around customer value and long-term growth.

So we decided to collaborate on this post to clear up the confusion, show how OMTM and NSM complement each other, and help you apply them more effectively in your own business.

And stick around to the end—we’ve got a little something special for subscribers to (at least one of) our newsletters.

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If you've worked in a startup, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by metrics. What should we track? How do we know if we’re making progress?

Among the most popular frameworks are the One Metric That Matters (OMTM) and the North Star Metric (NSM). At first glance, these can seem like the same thing or maybe competing ideas. But in reality, they’re complementary—and when used together, they provide powerful focus and alignment across a growing team.

We’ve both spent years helping startups make sense of growth. These concepts were featured heavily in our respective books—Lean Analytics (coauthored by Ben and Alistair Croll) and Hacking Growth (coauthored by Sean and Morgan Brown)—because they represent foundational tools for building and scaling successful products.

This post brings together our two most popular concepts—OMTM and NSM—to show how they fit together to drive focus and long-term impact. As more teams adopt growth frameworks, we’ve noticed growing confusion—and even resistance—due to misinterpretations of these tools.

The Origins of OMTM and NSM

Ben Yoskovitz: The concept of the One Metric That Matters (OMTM) was introduced in Lean Analytics as a way to create laser focus. Startups often chase too many goals at once. OMTM is a tool for prioritization, specifically around identifying and measuring progress against your riskiest assumptions. At any given time, there should be one metric that is the most important to move, based on your current stage or challenge. It’s situational, evolving as your startup evolves.

Sean Ellis: The North Star Metric (NSM) came from observing what drives long-term growth in companies like Facebook and LinkedIn and those where I worked directly, such as Dropbox, Eventbrite, and LogMeIn. It’s a single metric that best captures the core value you deliver to your customers. Unlike OMTM, which changes frequently, the NSM provides a stable point of alignment that connects team efforts to customer success and company growth.

Why the Confusion?

People often talk about the NSM and OMTM as if they are the same thing—which leads to a lot of unnecessary criticism.

We've heard people say, "There are a lot more metrics that matter than just the NSM or OMTM!" And they’re absolutely right—but that misses the point. NSM and OMTM are two different concepts that don’t compete, they’re complementary. The NSM isn’t meant to replace all other metrics; it’s meant to unify them. It serves as a guiding light, while other metrics (like OMTMs) help you improve specific parts of the customer journey that ultimately support your NSM. Think of OMTMs laddering up to the NSM.

Different Tools for Different Jobs

The OMTM is a microscope. It brings a specific growth challenge into sharp focus. NSM is the telescope—it ensures you’re headed in the right direction over time.

If you're trying to fix onboarding drop-off, your OMTM might be "onboarding completion rate." But your NSM—say, "weekly active users" or "successful bookings"—remains constant, ensuring your efforts are building toward long-term success.

When to Use OMTM

Use the OMTM during focused sprints, experiments, or when addressing a bottleneck in the customer journey. It could be:

• Increasing the % of users who complete profile setup

• Boosting click-through rate on a landing page

• Improving invite acceptance in a referral flow

It’s the metric that matters right now. And when you solve that issue, the OMTM should change.

We don’t believe there’s literally one single metric you’re tracking at any point in time, but conceptually, the One Metric That Matters, gives clarity that fewer metrics is often better than more. In addition, there are levels of OMTMs that you may want to contemplate as your company scales and matures. For example, you may have an OMTM for a specific growth experiment, and then have a department-level OMTM. Each experiment has to “bubble up” value to the department-level OMTM, which then further “bubbles up” to the NSM.

“I’ve watched early-stage founders focus on too many metrics at once. That’s where the OMTM shines—it cuts through the noise.” - Ben

When to Use NSM

The NSM anchors your team in a shared understanding of what success looks like at the highest level. It helps teams avoid local optimizations that don’t move the business forward.

A good NSM:

• Reflects the value delivered to customers

• Has a strong correlation with revenue growth

• Helps teams make trade-offs and prioritize initiatives

For example:

• Uber: Weekly rides

• Airbnb: Nights booked

• Spotify: Time spent listening

“I’ve seen teams spin their wheels on tactical wins that don’t move the NSM. That’s why anchoring in the NSM matters so much.” - Sean

Why They’re Not in Conflict

OMTM and NSM operate on different levels:

• NSM is strategic and enduring

• OMTM is tactical and situational

Each OMTM should ladder up to and support your NSM. Think of them as complementary tools in a growth system. The NSM ensures you’re building a valuable, scalable product. OMTMs ensure you’re removing friction and accelerating progress along the way.

Real-World Examples

Uber

• NSM: Weekly rides taken

• OMTM (early days): % of first-time riders who complete a ride within 7 days of signup

Airbnb

• NSM: Nights booked

• OMTM (expansion phase): % of new listings with verified photos

Duolingo

• NSM: Daily active users

• OMTM (retention initiative): 7-day retention rate for new learners

Operationalizing Both Metrics

To get the most out of these frameworks:

• Define your NSM early and socialize it across the company

• Choose an OMTM for each team or sprint that supports the NSM

• Revisit and change the OMTM regularly as priorities shift

• Use NSM as a guiding light, OMTM as the near-term target

Final Takeaway

Startups don’t need more metrics—they need the right ones.

• The NSM provides direction and clarity of purpose.

• The OMTM delivers focus and agility.

When used together, they keep your team aligned, motivated, and executing on what matters most.

Growth isn’t just about moving fast—it’s about moving fast in the right direction, with the right focus at the right time.

Upcoming Q&A Session for Paid Newsletter Subscribers

If you’re a paid subscriber to Focused Chaos and/or Growth with Sean Ellis (at minimum you have 1 paid subscription), you’re invited to join an upcoming webinar we’ll be doing on startup and growth metrics.

• Date/Time: TBD (likely in the next month)

• Focus: Startup and growth metrics (a deeper dive on Lean Analytics and Hacking Growth)

• Cost: Completely free! (for paid newsletter subscribers)

If you’re interested, please fill out this quick form and we’ll get back to you with more details.