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Sam Altman: Do Not Track Absolute User Growth. Track How Often They're Using It.

By Sam Altman · Product · 1 min read

I think this is so important that you actually shouldn't track absolute growth in number of users in the early days. You should just track how often they're using it. Are they retained? Is it frequent? That's what matters.

Key Points

It's more important to have a small number of users who love you than a lot who like you
Don't track absolute user growth early — track retention and frequency of use
Nothing but a great product will save you — everything else is secondary

You shouldn't track absolute growth in number of users in the early days. You should track how often they're using it.

Deep and Narrow, Not Broad and Thin

Altman: It's more important to have a small number of users that love you than a lot of users that like you. Almost all startups get this wrong.

You have two choices. Go deep and narrow — a small number of users that really love you, then find how to get more of those users. Or have a lot of people who kind of use it once or twice and try to get them more engaged. With high confidence I can say — you want to start with a small number that really love you.

A small number who love you beats a lot who like you. Almost all startups get this wrong.

Don't Track Absolute Growth

Altman: A good indicator is retention and frequency of use. I think this is so important that you actually shouldn't track absolute growth in number of users in the early days. You should just track how often they're using it.

Is this a user I'm retaining? That's using it frequently? How do I compare to other products in my space?

Don't track absolute growth. Track retention and frequency. Are they using it often?

Nothing But a Great Product Will Save You

Altman: The products that are so good you spontaneously tell your friends about them. The products that are so good that if they went away, you would write the company and protest. That's what it means to really love a product.

Nothing but a great product will save you. We'll talk about a lot of other things in this course. They all kind of matter. But if you don't get this one right, the thing is still not going to work.

Products so good you'd write the company and protest if they disappeared. Nothing else saves you.