Numbers Always Matter

You have a vision. Or a dream. You're on a mission. That's all that matters, right? Focus on that and everything else will sort itself out, right?

Nope. Well at least not 99.9% of the time. It may seem old hat, but along with mission and product the numbers always matter. Always.

You can have the best interests of your users and the world at heart along with a product that is loved by many, but if, for one second, you try to delude yourself or the team into thinking that numbers aren't important, you're setting your project up for failure.

Numbers always matter. They matter for a few reasons. In the first place they keep you honest.

Ventures are usually born out of a dream to create something that doesn't exist. But all dreams end. When you wake up it's the numbers that help you check reality against your original dream to see what matches, what worked and what didn't so you can re-align your next moves into the future.

Numbers help you raise capital to continue your dream.

A growing venture is fueled by capital. Great leaders allocate part of each day to raising. Part of raising is knowing your venture's numbers inside and out, not because the numbers alone will be enough to get investors to write you a check, but because they enhance and support the story of how your product is changing lives and paving the way for a better future for many, many more people.

Know your numbers, or die dreaming.