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# How to Use Vision-Driven Investment to Create Meaningful Metrics and KPIs in Healthcare SaaS

A healthcare SaaS startup running SAFe with a small team of two to five people has a metrics problem. The company makes a cloud-based platform for small medical practices. It handles patient scheduling, electronic health records, billing, and telehealth. The company has been around for two years and has eight employees. Three of them work in product development. (1/43)

The metrics are wrong. The team tracks vanity metrics: total signups, page views, and feature count. The numbers look good. Total signups sit at 1,200. Page views hit 45,000 per month. The feature count is 31.

But those numbers are misleading. Only 180 of the 1,200 signups are active. That is a 12% activation rate. The product is not sticking. Churn runs at 42% per quarter. The company is losing customers faster than it is gaining them. Revenue is declining. (2/43)

The team does not see the problem because the metrics are meaningless.

Masayoshi Son built SoftBank on vision-driven investment. His core insight was simple. The biggest problem in investing is measuring the wrong things. Wrong measurements create false confidence. False confidence leads to bad decisions. Bad decisions cost billions. (3/43)

Son attacked this by starting with the vision. He defined a destination thirty years out. Then he used that vision as a filter. Every metric had to answer one question: Does this prove we are moving toward the vision? If yes, keep it. If no, drop it.

This ensured every metric was meaningful. Meaningful metrics created clarity. Clarity created good investments. Good investments built SoftBank. (4/43)

For a healthcare SaaS startup, the situation is the same. Vanity metrics create false confidence. False confidence hides the real problem. The fix is to define the vision first. The vision creates the filter. The filter creates meaningful metrics. Meaningful metrics create clarity. Clarity creates action.

## The Core Principle (5/43)

Son's vision-driven investment rests on one idea. The best way to create meaningful metrics and KPIs is to start with a thirty-year vision. Then filter every metric through a single question: does it prove movement toward that vision?

This approach forces the team to measure what matters instead of what looks good. (6/43)

Son did not evaluate SoftBank's portfolio companies by looking at total signups, page views, feature count, or revenue growth rate. Those metrics look impressive in a pitch deck. They tell you nothing about whether the company will exist in thirty years. (7/43)

He evaluated them by asking one question. Does this metric prove we are moving toward the vision? That question became a filter. The filter eliminated vanity metrics. Eliminating vanity metrics created clarity. Clarity created good decisions. Good decisions built SoftBank. (8/43)

For a healthcare SaaS startup, the metrics problem is identical. Vanity metrics create false confidence. False confidence hides the problem. The solution is to define the vision first. The vision creates the filter. The filter creates meaningful metrics.

## Four Steps to Apply Vision-Driven Investment to Creating Meaningful Metrics and KPIs

1. Define a Thirty-Year Vision That Describes the World Your Product Will Create (9/43)

Son defined a thirty-year vision at SoftBank: Make the world happier through the information revolution. The thirty-year horizon created perspective. Perspective created patience. Patience created discipline. Discipline created good investments.

You should do the same. Define a thirty-year vision that describes the world your product will create. (10/43)

For a healthcare SaaS startup, it might look like this. The founder defines one sentence: By 2055, every small medical practice in the world will deliver better patient outcomes because our platform handles the complexity of healthcare operations so that doctors can focus on patients. (11/43)

The thirty-year horizon creates perspective. That perspective reveals whether current metrics actually matter. The vision gets shared with all three team members in a one-hour meeting. The meeting explains the vision and the why behind it. The vision is not about the product. It is about the world the product creates. A world where small medical practices deliver better patient outcomes. That destination creates direction. Direction creates meaningful metrics. (12/43)

When the founder shared the vision last week, the reaction was immediate. We have been measuring the wrong things. That realization created urgency. Urgency created action. The team started redefining metrics using the vision as the filter.

For a SAFe team of two to five, the thirty-year vision should be one sentence. It should describe the world the product will create. It should be shared with all team members. In SAFe, the vision should be part of PI planning as a planning input. (13/43)

2. Filter Every Existing Metric Through the Vision Question and Drop Any Metric That Does Not Prove Movement Toward the Vision

Son filtered every metric at SoftBank through the vision question. The filtering eliminated vanity metrics. Eliminating vanity metrics created clarity. Clarity created good decisions.

You should filter every existing metric the same way. Drop any metric that does not prove movement toward the vision. (14/43)

For a healthcare SaaS startup, the filtering looks like this.

Metric one: Total signups. The number is 1,200. The vision question: Does this prove we are moving toward the vision? The answer is no. Total signups do not prove that small medical practices are delivering better patient outcomes. They only prove that people signed up. Signing up is not the same as delivering better outcomes. Drop it. (15/43)

Metric two: Page views. The number is 45,000 per month. The vision question: Does this prove we are moving toward the vision? The answer is no. Page views do not prove that small medical practices are delivering better patient outcomes. They only prove that people visited a page. Drop it. (16/43)

Metric three: Feature count. The number is 31. The vision question: Does this prove we are moving toward the vision? The answer is no. Feature count does not prove that small medical practices are delivering better patient outcomes. It only proves that features were built. Drop it.

With the vanity metrics gone, there is space for meaningful ones. The vision is every small medical practice in the world will deliver better patient outcomes. The new metrics follow from that. (17/43)

Metric one: Activation rate. The percentage of signups that become active users. This proves the product is being used. Using the product is the first step toward better patient outcomes.

Metric two: Churn rate. The percentage of users that stop using the product. This proves the product is sticking. Sticking is the second step toward better patient outcomes. (18/43)

Metric three: Patient outcome score. A survey that asks doctors whether the platform helped them deliver better patient outcomes. This proves the product is delivering on the vision.

Replacing vanity metrics with meaningful ones creates clarity. Clarity creates action. (19/43)

For a SAFe team of two to five, every existing metric should be filtered through the vision question. Metrics that do not prove movement toward the vision should be dropped. Meaningful metrics should be defined based on the vision. In SAFe, this filtering should be part of PI planning as a planning activity.

3. Define Three Vision Metrics That Prove Movement Toward the Vision at Every Stage of Growth (20/43)

Son defined three vision metrics at SoftBank. They proved movement toward the vision. Proving movement created accountability. Accountability created urgency. Urgency created results.

You should define three vision metrics that prove movement toward the vision at every stage of growth.

For a healthcare SaaS startup, the three vision metrics might look like this. (21/43)

Vision metric one: Weekly active practices. The number of medical practices that use the platform at least once per week. This proves the product is being used regularly. Regular use is the first step toward better patient outcomes. The target is 50% of signups becoming weekly active practices. The current rate is 12%. That gap is the opportunity. Improving onboarding will increase activation. Increasing activation will increase weekly active practices (22/43)

. That moves the company toward the vision. (23/43)

Vision metric two: Quarterly retention rate. The percentage of practices that continue using the platform after three months. This proves the product is sticking. Sticking is the second step toward better patient outcomes. The target is 80% of weekly active practices retained after three months. The current rate is 58%. That gap is the opportunity. Improving the product will increase retention. Increasing retention moves the company toward the vision. (24/43)

Vision metric three: Net promoter score. A survey that asks doctors whether they would recommend the platform to a colleague. This proves the product is delivering value. Delivering value is the third step toward better patient outcomes. The target is a score of 50 or higher. The current score is 22. That gap is the opportunity. Improving patient outcomes will increase the score. Increasing the score moves the company toward the vision. (25/43)

These three metrics are tracked weekly. Weekly tracking creates visibility. Visibility creates accountability. Accountability creates urgency. Urgency creates results.

For a SAFe team of two to five, the three vision metrics should prove movement toward the vision. They should be tracked weekly. They should have clear targets. In SAFe, the three vision metrics should be part of PI planning as planning outputs. (26/43)

4. Run a Feedback Loop Every Two Weeks to Review the Vision Metrics and Pivot the Product Strategy If the Metrics Are Not Moving

Son ran a feedback loop every quarter at SoftBank. The loop reviewed vision metrics. It identified gaps. Gaps created pivots. Pivots created new strategies. New strategies created movement toward the vision.

You should run a feedback loop every two weeks. Review the vision metrics. Pivot the product strategy if the metrics are not moving. (27/43)

For a healthcare SaaS startup, the feedback loop looks like this. The founder runs a thirty-minute meeting every two weeks. All three team members attend. The meeting reviews the three vision metrics. (28/43)

Review one: Weekly active practices. The current rate is 12%. The target is 50%. The gap is 38% and it is not closing. Investigation reveals the onboarding process is too complex. Complexity causes users to drop off. The pivot is to simplify onboarding, reducing the steps from seven to three. That should increase activation and move the metric toward the target. (29/43)

Review two: Quarterly retention rate. The current rate is 58%. The target is 80%. The gap is 22% and it is not closing. Investigation reveals the billing feature is confusing. Confusion causes users to leave. The pivot is to redesign the billing feature and simplify the interface. That should increase retention and move the metric toward the target. (30/43)