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I=E2=80=99m keen to get going but happy for the extra time to = rework a few core ideas.=20 One of the pieces I felt the book wasn=E2=80=99t delivering on was a clear = roadmap. When you=E2=80=99re a founder, especially a first time founder, it= can be very challenging to synthesize all the advice you=E2=80=99re receiv= ing and figure out what to do next.=20 The thing I struggled with was getting a lot of good advice that wasn=E2=80= =99t relevant to where I was. Part of this is because it was hard to commun= icate precisely where I was at on my journey and part was because the advic= e wasn=E2=80=99t necessarily calibrated directly to me (was from a speaker,= a blog post, a book, etc=E2=80=A6).=20 I spent my week thinking about the key north stars that I followed when get= ting Carb off the ground and then tried to sequence them. What follows is h= ow I=E2=80=99m thinking about the problem.=20 **North Stars ** The biggest unlock for me was realizing that while I was receiving lots of = very good advice, blindly changing my priorities based on the most recent a= dvice received was a bad idea. I needed to focus on moving one big thing fo= rward at a time and that meant following one North Star metric/rock/OKR.=20 Unlike _the _North Star, Polaris, once we=E2=80=99ve reached our destinatio= n, there is a new North Star for us to follow. I found I struggled to let g= o of the North Star that got me to where I was and focus on the one that wo= uld take me to my next milestone.=20 **Product vs Revenue**=20 As I mapped out the milestones, I noticed that they fell into two categorie= s, things that helped me find product market fit and things that helped me = build a repeatable revenue engine. While there was some similarities, they = formed two distinct journeys. Product comes first, then revenue.=20 **Feedback** This has been my experience and I=E2=80=99d love to hear from you all if th= is checks with yours or there is something missing. Please hit that reply a= nd let me know what=E2=80=99s good and what=E2=80=99s missing.=20 **Product Milestones**=20 1. People use your solution=20 2. Receive money in exchange for using it=20 3. Prove you can retain users=20 4. Users get so much value they refer their friends (and they buy) **Revenue Milestones ** 1. First case studies from early users=20 2. First customers from working your network=20 3. First customers from outside your network 4. First lead generated without founder input =20 5. First sale that a founder wasn=E2=80=99t involved in=20 Are there other huge pieces that I=E2=80=99m missing? Absolutely. If they a= re related to product or revenue, I=E2=80=99d love to hear from you. I feel= like the product milestones are pretty solid but I feel like the revenue m= ilestones might be missing something about systems or hiring.=20 I understand that I=E2=80=99m skipping right over finance, operations, and = many other important functions. While I agree they are super important, I w= anted to focus these milestones on the north stars I followed to reach my f= irst few million in annual recurring revenue.=20 Collin Stewart=20 =E2=80=94=E2=80=94=E2=80=94 You are reading a plain text version of this post. For the best experience,= copy and paste this link in your browser to view the post online: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/on-north-stars --17cf6b41c6fa03dbbaa1b886cc8ac4577ce8c0be68c0c222b17ac20a1b85 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Mime-Version: 1.0 on north stars
<= td align=3D"center" valign=3D"top" style=3D"border:0px solid #FFFFFF;border= -radius:10px;background-color:#FFFFFF;" class=3D"c">
<= /tr>

September 06, 2024   |   Read Online

on north stars

3D"fb" 3D"fb" 3D"fb"<= /a> 3D"fb"
3D""

Good morning Andrew,

Quick book update - the first draft submission date got pu= shed to the end of September. I=E2=80=99m keen to get going but happy for t= he extra time to rework a few core ideas.

One of the pieces I felt the book wasn=E2=80=99t delivering on was a clear= roadmap. When you=E2=80=99re a founder, especially a first time founder, i= t can be very challenging to synthesize all the advice you=E2=80=99re recei= ving and figure out what to do next.

The = thing I struggled with was getting a lot of good advice that wasn=E2=80=99t= relevant to where I was. Part of this is because it was hard to communicat= e precisely where I was at on my journey and part was because the advice wa= sn=E2=80=99t necessarily calibrated directly to me (was from a speaker, a b= log post, a book, etc=E2=80=A6).

I spent = my week thinking about the key north stars that I followed when getting Car= b off the ground and then tried to sequence them. What follows is how I=E2= =80=99m thinking about the problem.

No= rth Stars
The biggest= unlock for me was realizing that while I was receiving lots of very good a= dvice, blindly changing my priorities based on the most recent advice recei= ved was a bad idea. I needed to focus on moving one big thing forward at a = time and that meant following one North Star metric/rock/OKR.

Unlike <= i>the North Star, Polaris= , once we=E2=80=99ve reached our destination, there is a new North Star for= us to follow. I found I struggled to let go of the North Star that got me = to where I was and focus on the one that would take me to my next milestone= .

Product vs Revenue=C2=A0
As I mapped out the milestones, I noticed that they fell into = two categories, things that helped me find product market fit and things th= at helped me build a repeatable revenue engine. While there was some simila= rities, they formed two distinct journeys. Product comes first, then revenu= e.

Feedback
This has been my experience and I=E2=80=99d lov= e to hear from you all if this checks with yours or there is something miss= ing. Please hit that reply and let me know what=E2=80=99s good and what=E2= =80=99s missing.

Product Milestones<= /b>=C2=A0

  1. People use your solution

  2. Receive money in exchange for using it=

  3. = Prove you can retain users

  4. Users get so much value they refer their friend= s (and they buy)

Revenu= e Milestones

  1. First case studies from= early users

  2. First customers from working your network

  3. First customers from o= utside your network

  4. First lead generated without founder input

    <= /li>

  5. First sale th= at a founder wasn=E2=80=99t involved in

Are there other huge pieces that I=E2=80=99m missing? Absolu= tely. If they are related to product or revenue, I=E2=80=99d love to hear f= rom you. I feel like the product milestones are pretty solid but I feel lik= e the revenue milestones might be missing something about systems or hiring= .

I understand that I=E2=80=99m skipping = right over finance, operations, and many other important functions. While I= agree they are super important, I wanted to focus these milestones on the = north stars I followed to reach my first few million in annual recurring re= venue.

Collin Stewart

<= /table>
3D"yt"3D"in"
 

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