5 Metrics Every Founder Should Track
I’ll be the first to admit it: I am a very data-driven person. Data is one of the pillars of how I built Grounded Growth Studio, and it’s how I help founders make smarter marketing decisions. Numbers matter. They give us insight, accountability, and direction.
But here’s the nuance: being data-driven isn’t the same as being data-overloaded.
I’ve advised plenty of super-analytical founders who believed the answer to their marketing challenges was “track more.” They built dashboards filled with CTRs, bounce rates, follower counts, time-on-site—convinced that if they just measured everything, clarity would emerge.
But instead of clarity, they got chaos. Every metric seemed to point in a different direction, leading to second-guessing, delays, and paralysis. It’s like standing in front of a firehose: there’s no shortage of water, but it’s impossible to drink.
And the cost of this overload is real. McKinsey estimates that inefficient decision-making—often worsened by too much data—costs a typical Fortune 500 company the equivalent of 530,000 days of managers’ time each year, or about $250 million in wasted wages.
The problem isn’t the data itself, it’s the overload. More doesn’t mean better.
Data as a Compass, Not a Kaleidoscope
When founders are buried in dashboards, it’s a bit like holding a kaleidoscope up to the sky. There are endless patterns, constantly shifting, and no clear way forward.
A compass works differently. It doesn’t describe every tree, rock, or hill — it simply points you north.
That’s the mindset shift I encourage: use data as a compass, not a kaleidoscope. Anchor on a handful of meaningful metrics that tie directly to growth and revenue. When you do that, data becomes a driver of action instead of a source of distraction.
Here are five compass points I recommend founders use to steer their marketing decisions:
1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
What it tells you: How much you spend to acquire each new customer.
Why it matters: If CAC grows faster than revenue, your model isn’t scalable.
Research: In SaaS, Stripe tells us that a CAC payback period of 12 months or less is widely regarded as a healthy benchmark. High-performing companies often do even better, 5 to 7 months in many cases.
2. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
What it tells you: The total revenue a customer generates over time.
Why it matters: When paired with CAC, it shows whether growth is profitable.
Research: In Bain’s Loyalty Rules! (and its supporting works), they state: “an increase in customer retention rates of 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.”
3. Pipeline Velocity
What it tells you: The speed and value of deals moving through your funnel.
Why it matters: Efficiency metrics are key here. The shorter the sales cycle, the faster you realize revenue. Ultimately, you want a process that brings ready leads into the funnel and moves them through smoothly, without stalls or unnecessary friction.
4. Conversion Rates by Stage
What it tells you: Where prospects drop off between lead → MQL → SQL → customer.
Why it matters: It highlights friction points so you know what to fix.
Research: Here’s a handy reference list with a few different opinions on funnel benchmarks so you can see where you stack up:
B2B SaaS (First Page Sage)
Lead → MQL: ~ 39%
MQL → SQL: ~ 38%
SQL → Opportunity: ~ 42%
Opportunity → Closed: ~ 37%
Cross Industry (Data-Mania)
MQL → SQL: 12% to 21% depending on vertical and maturity.
General B2B (Hibob)
Lead → MQL: 25%–35%
MQL → SQL: 13%–26%
SQL → Opportunity: 50%–62%
Opportunity → Close: 15%–30%
5. Direct Website Traffic
What it tells you: This one might seem almost too simple to be true: how many visitors land on your site by typing in your URL directly or searching specifically for your brand name.
Why it matters: Direct traffic is one of the simplest proxies for brand strength, as it shows that people know you exist and are actively seeking you out, independent of ads or campaigns. For early-stage founders, it’s a clear, low-effort way to see if brand investments are compounding into awareness and demand.
Research: In its 2024 ranking-factors study, SEMrush includes direct traffic share (i.e. branded/direct visits) among the user signals correlated with stronger domain performance and SERP ranking. (SEMrush)
Staying Oriented in the Data Storm
At Grounded Growth Studio, I’ll never tell a founder to ignore data. That would go against everything I believe. But I will say this: data only has power if it drives decisions.
More dashboards, more charts, more metrics don’t automatically lead to clarity. More often, they create distraction. The real advantage comes from choosing the right metrics, tying them to outcomes, and using them to take the next step.
That’s how you stay data-driven without getting data-drowned.
Data can be your compass or your kaleidoscope. One points north. The other spins endlessly in patterns that never repeat.
More isn’t better. Better is better.
