With the right strategy you can be the next Google — but only if you measure the right things

Choosing the right goal is important. But a goal is meaningless if we aren’t intentional about measuring our success.

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

I want to tell you a story about two startups. One is a small California startup trying to make a splash in the social media space in the early 2000’s. Right about this time, there’s a lot of negative sentiment associated with “traditional” social media. Social algorithms are being recognized for what they are: Tools that manipulate people into screen addiction, judgment, superficiality, social isolation, often leading to depression and worse. There’s a general sentiment — at least in some quarters — that there could be something better.

Enter this startup. The founder is visionary. He sees a future platform that is socially conscious. A social media application that has all the good, and none of the bad. It would enrich lives by sending and receiving positive sentiments on a personal level, showing appreciation for others while not showing off about it, and eschewing all the “likes” and subscription counters of mainstream media.

It’s a pretty g…