Every founder eventually discovers the same truth.
You cannot manage what you do not measure.
And if you measure the wrong things, you get the wrong results.

Scorecards solve this problem by giving your team a weekly snapshot of company health. They highlight whether you are on track, off track or drifting without realizing it. But the real challenge is choosing the right measurables.

Good measurables create clarity.
Bad measurables create confusion and false confidence.

This article breaks down the best measurables for a scorecard, why they matter and how to pick the right ones for your startup.

Why Scorecards Matter

A scorecard translates your goals into weekly actions.
It gives you:

• Visibility into performance
• Early warning signs
• Leading indicators for growth
• Alignment across the team
• Accountability for results

Research from the Harvard Business School found that companies using consistent performance metrics improve execution by more than 60 percent. And teams that review these metrics weekly improve performance faster than those that review them monthly or quarterly.

The key is picking measurables that predict outcomes, not ones that describe what already happened.

The Difference Between Lagging and Leading Measurables

Most founders accidentally track lagging indicators:

• Revenue
• Profit
• Churn
• Completed projects
• Customer count

Lagging indicators tell you what happened.
They are outcomes of your systems, not inputs.

The best scorecards focus on leading indicators:

• Actions
• Behaviors
• Activity levels
• Predictable patterns

Leading indicators tell you what will happen.

If you want your scorecard to help you steer your business, you need measurables that predict results, not just report them.

The Best Measurables for Any Startup Scorecard

While every company is unique, there are universal categories that apply to nearly every early stage business. Here are the measurables that consistently drive meaningful weekly insight.

1. Activity Measurables

These track the actions that lead to outcomes.

Examples:

• Sales outreach attempts per week
• Demo calls booked
• Marketing campaigns shipped
• New content pieces posted
• Product releases shipped
• Customer success touchpoints

When activity drops, results drop later.
This makes activity measurables essential for predicting performance.

2. Pipeline and Conversion Measurables

These show whether your growth engine is healthy.

Examples:

• New leads generated
• Qualified leads
• Conversion rate from lead to demo
• Conversion rate from demo to close
• Average deal size
• Pipeline value

These indicators help you catch momentum loss before revenue declines.

3. Customer Experience Measurables

Happy customers stay longer, pay more and refer others.

Examples:

• Net Promoter Score
• Feature adoption rate
• Active user percentage
• Support tickets open or resolved
• Average resolution time
• Churn risk percentage

According to Bain and Company, increasing retention by just 5 percent can increase profit by up to 95 percent. Tracking these measurables protects your relationships and long term revenue.

4. Product and Delivery Measurables

These reflect the quality and speed of execution.

Examples:

• Cycle time
• Bugs reported vs resolved
• Deployments shipped per week
• On time project delivery
• Feature completion percentage

High-performing engineering teams track these weekly so bottlenecks never go unnoticed.

5. Financial Health Measurables

These show whether your business is operating sustainably.

Examples:

• Cash runway
• Weekly burn
• Customer acquisition cost trend
• MRR movement
• Collected payments vs outstanding invoices

Even simple financial measurables prevent founders from flying blind.

6. Team and Culture Measurables

Your team is the engine behind every metric.

Examples:

• Weekly engagement score
• Completion rate of tasks
• Meeting attendance
• Survey participation
• Hiring pipeline movement

Teams that track engagement reduce turnover by up to 40 percent, according to Gallup.

How Many Measurables Should You Track?

The sweet spot is 5 to 15 measurables per team, updated weekly.

Too many measurables create noise.
Too few create blind spots.

Every measurable should:

1. Be easy to update
2. Have one clear owner
3. Be reviewed weekly
4. Predict a future outcome
5. Tie directly to a goal or priority

If a measurable does not influence action, remove it.

How to Build a High Impact Scorecard in Wave

Wave makes scorecards simple by giving your team:

• Weekly updates
• Automatic status colors
• Clear ownership
• Trend visualization
• One connected view across teams

Scorecards inside Wave are structured around responsibilities and tied directly to Rocks, goals and KPIs. This makes them a living part of your operating system, not just a spreadsheet someone forgets to update.

Your team gets visibility.
Your priorities stay aligned.
Your progress becomes predictable.

Final Thought

The best measurables are the ones that predict outcomes and drive weekly action. When your team reviews the right numbers rhythmically, execution improves, accountability strengthens and growth becomes easier to manage.

Choosing the right measurables is important, but making them part of your operating system is what transforms them into a competitive advantage.

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