“If you just focus on revenue and value is not moving at the same pace as revenue then eventually revenue is going to crash. If you can focus on how do I keep growing that footprint of value and have revenue be a function of that value then revenue is going to be much more sustainable.”

North Star Metric Reflects Value Delivered — Revenue Is a Lagging Shadow of It

Sean Ellis defines a north star metric as the single measure of aggregate value delivered to customers — not a revenue proxy. Revenue lags value; when value stalls, revenue collapses later. The NSM forces every team to ask 'does this move the thing users actually care about?' instead of optimizing local metrics that don't translate to sustainable growth.