The biggest number of possible users is not what you need.

At least not all the time. Yes, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc. get all this press attention because they’ve got that. But it’s what they set out to do.

Maybe if you set out to do that, you’re not fit to handle it. Or it won’t even help you. In that context, the press, valuations etc. that FB/TikTok/etc. get become vanity metrics.

I’m aware I’ve said the number of users is a startup’s currency. However, I also mention the following about one’s net worth:

It’s the best we’ve got and for the lack of a better indicator, we’ll keep on using that.

The same story applies again here, with # of users. It’s a good indicator, but not perfect. And for the lack of a better one, we’ll keep on using it.

Say your audience is a very targeted set of users who are from upper-middle-class families, which are into cruises. And your whole value delivery is about cruises — plus, they believe in you and trust you even blindly in some cases. They’re a very loyal audience.

10,000 of users from this set become more valuable than 100,000 from “muddy waters” — i.e. from undifferentiated sets of people.

Think about it.

You can create value in the world.

Or you can chase vanity metrics.

About Ch Daniel

I’ve updated this signature in July 2020, so older mentions of the signature might not make sense.

I currently don’t write on this blog anymore. I wrote daily for 9 months on this very blog, but now I’m focused on building the CH Group.

If you want to follow my newer articles, check out the CH Group’s blog.

See everything I do here: Chdaniel.com