Brad Feld talks about how he came to the conclusion that there are only three numbers that matter and we should each figure out what ours are. His post has been sticking in my craw for a while now. He is right: we have an explosion of data and it is impossible to track it all and have it be meaningful. I remember early on the advice I received: don’t track it if you aren’t going to use it. I try to be judicious this way.
So what numbers do I track right now? On a daily basis, it is revenues, overall downloads, and product position in the category for our top selling app. The category position gives me a good indicator as to whether revenues are down overall or just for our products.
On a quarterly/half-yearly/annual basis, I look at revenue and downloads, too, but broken down on a per product basis and graphed. The graph helps me stay focused on data trends rather than the data points themselves. I also look at month-to-month revenues to see how it is trending versus the year before.
On top of this I am always watching the cash in the bank account. That’s a given, though, and is the most important number. As my college management professor taught me, Cash Is King.
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