Every founder who joins Daybreak brings a dashboard. Most have more than twenty metrics on it. When we ask which one changed a decision last week, the answer is usually none.

Why one number

A single number forces trade-offs into the open. If the number is weekly active clinics, then a feature that pleases one large customer but does not move active clinics waits. The team can still argue about it, but they argue about the same thing.

We pick the number in week zero with three tests. It has to move within a week of a change. It has to be something the team controls. And it has to predict revenue three months out.

How it runs the week

Monday starts with last week’s number and the three things most likely to move it. Friday ends with the result. Nothing else gets a standing slot in the calendar.

By week six most teams have changed their number once. That is fine. Changing it on purpose is the point.