The Power of Analytics - Chapter 2 - North Star Metrics & KPI Trees

Sep 13, 2026

Chapter 2 introduces KPI Trees as a practical structure for becoming data-driven in product management. It explains how to select a North Star metric that summarizes company-wide performance and aligns teams to their specific parts of the customer journey. The chapter covers why North Star metrics matter for prioritization, how teams can connect measurable and actionable metrics to customer value, and the key properties of strong North Star metrics. Examples such as Spotify illustrate metric relationships and layer-building toward the company goal.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

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Pages18

Reading Time6 min

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North Star Metrics & KPI Trees

Find your North Star metric - The root of your KPI Tree

How to choose your North Star metric?

The Power of Analytics - Florian Bonnet @2025. All rights Reserved. The Power of Analytics - Florian Bonnet @2025. All rights Reserved. Copyright © 2025 by Florian Bonnet Visit the author’s website at www.ﬂorian-bonnet. comAll rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from thepublisher or author, except as permitted by E. U. copyright law. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to thesubject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor thepublisher is engaged in rendering legal, investment, accounting, or other professional services.While the publisher and author have used their best eﬀorts in preparing this book, they make norepresentations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents ofthis book and speciﬁcally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or ﬁtness for aparticular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or writtensales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for yoursituation. You should consult with a professional when appropriate. Neither the publisher northe author s hall be liable for any loss of proﬁt or any other commercial damages, including butnot limited to special, incidental, consequential, personal, or other damages. While this book and its exercises reference real companies, all data, datasets, charts, and numerical information presented are ﬁctional and have been created for illustrative purposesonly. Although certain patterns and phenomena described may reﬂect general observationsfrom the author's professional experience, they have been modiﬁed and sometimes exaggeratedto better demonstrate key concepts. No identiﬁcation with actual business metrics, performance data, or speciﬁc company information is intended or should be inferred. The Power of Analytics - Florian Bonnet @2025. All rights Reserved. Chapter 2 - North Star Metrics & KPI Trees Note: This is a giveaway sample of The Power of Analytics book. The ﬁnal copyand format of the book might differ from this sample. To be data-driven, you need to know how to drive. In this chapter, I will equip youwith a structure acting as roads and guardrails to browse your data. This structuretakes the name of a KPI Tree and will help you: ● Understand what success looks like for your product and how to measure it, ● Identify the crucial steps for your customers to achieve success andunderstand how you can drive that success, ● Help you understand the root cause behind your product performance.Let’s go! 1. Find your North Star metric - The root of your KPI Tree In the ever-evolving landscape of product management, the concept of NorthStar metrics, popularized by Sean Ellis, has become indispensable. The North Starmetric of a company is the one KPI summarizing its entire activity, andperformance towards its goal. It does not have to be a ﬁnancial metric. It actuallyshould not be. For example, Spotify’s North Star metric is “Time Spent Listening” 1 .It captures the value customers get out of the platform. Additionally, if the mainmetric of the company like \# of customers or retention increases, the Time SpentListening will increase as well, making it a good North Star Metric. While a company has a North Star Metric, each team can deﬁne their own2. TheirNorth Star metric will encompass their activity and relate to their part of thecustomer journey. Together, they will build up to the company’s North Star metric.In the case of Spotify, you might have a team in charge of recurring usage( bringing customers back into the app to listen) which North Star metric could bethe“Average \# of sessions per customer per month”. If we increase this metric wewill increase the Time Spent Listening. We might have a team in charge ofrecommendations which North Star metric might be to increase the“\#

FAQs

What is a North Star metric in product management?

A North Star metric summarizes the entire company activity and performance toward its goal. It should capture the value customers get and should not be strictly financial.

Why does a KPI Tree help teams drive product success?

A KPI Tree provides a structured set of metrics that act like roads and guardrails for browsing data. It helps connect team activities to improvements in the North Star metric and clarifies root causes behind performance.

What properties should a good North Star metric have?

A good North Star metric reflects customer/company value, is measurable, actionable, and can be tied to the revenue or cost of the company.

Sep 13, 2026

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