Nice post! Thanks for sharing. You got me thinking :)

I wonder whether ‘viral growth’ this really is the ‘best’ sign of a good product? Virality is a difficult goal to achieve.

For me, I think it all depends on where your product is in its life. ‘Success’ should be defined very differently depending on where you are on your journey and what you want to achieve. For example, a successful alpha product is probably best judged on its usability and product/market fit. If you have a years-old product and you’re tweaking or nudging behaviours, then it’s all about moving the needle on specific metrics.

The metrics you mention here are undoubtedly your daily bread and butter, and they’re definitely indicators of success. I don’t think they tell the whole picture, though, and they certainly need more context around them to mean something.

Would love to hear what you think!