At some point, almost every founder asks the same question: which metrics should I monitor? The selection is large. Burn rate, revenue, customer development, product use, code quality: there are good reasons for each. But not every metric helps every company at the same time.
The real problem is therefore not a lack of data. It is selection. Anyone measuring everything can easily lose sight of which number can influence a decision now. A KPI is useful only when it is clear why it matters to the business and what would change if it moved.
A selection instead of an endless list
The KPI feature offers a considered, documented selection of metrics. It ranges from financial questions such as burn rate to operational and technical aspects such as code quality. Documentation helps explain what a metric says and when it may be useful.
It does not prescribe what a company must measure. A product company may need different metrics from a service business. The selection provides orientation so founders can choose KPIs that fit their business model and current question.
Manual entry, by design
It would be natural to import metrics automatically from as many systems as possible. That was deliberately not chosen. Automatic integrations can quickly create a large collection of data without anyone understanding what the numbers mean or whether they are reliable.
Instead, KPI data is entered manually each month. This is not rejecting convenience for its own sake. The short moment of entry requires people to look at the number, check where it came from, and place it in context. Data import becomes deliberate engagement.
The right view for others
For each KPI, it is also possible to decide the level of detail other users can see. Some metrics remain completely private. For another, a traffic-light status is enough. And where shared understanding is needed, the raw data can be visible.
This decision belongs to the metric itself. Not every number needs to be shared across the company, but a shared status can often be useful. This creates transparency where it helps without turning every KPI into a public data collection.
Understanding before comparison
Monthly maintenance does not make a KPI a truth about a company. It creates a rhythm in which development becomes visible and questions arise: why did burn rate change, what does code quality say about work right now, and does this metric still fit what we want to achieve?
KPIs remain a tool for understanding and decisions, not a dashboard of numbers nobody questions. A few fitting metrics considered regularly and consciously are more valuable than a complete but meaningless collection.