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Thanks for the detailed answer. I suppose tracking stages of sales pipeline is a good metric as you and several others have mentioned. Much better than being co

by oretoz 12y ago

Thanks for the detailed answer. I suppose tracking stages of sales pipeline is a good metric as you and several others have mentioned. Much better than being completely in dark. Also by 'backlog', I assume you meant product backlog (e.g. features remaining) or something in the sales funnel? While tracking the sales funnel is great to use as an indicator of progress, it is not great as a decision-making heuristic internally (e.g. for product features) as pg mentions in his essay 'Startup=Growth'. I suppose product backlog is a good metric for such cases. Tldr; use sales funnel to track business side and feature backlog internally. Because of the faster feedback cycles, the web/mobile app world can use the same metric to track internal and external progress.

LukaAl 12y ago
What do you mean by backlog depends a lot on what you are selling: - If it is software, usually you sells it in stage or you have to deliver customization/integration at a later stage: - If it is SaaS is like before but you have also the following months of license (they usually ask for a minimum guaranteed lifetime for the SaaS); - If it is hardware for internal use usually it is installed in stage, so you could have your sales spread over few months/years. - If it is something they resell, you will have the projection of sales. _ If it is a service, you have the service not yet delivered as backlog. Obviously they can cancel when they want, but it is still your backlog until you deliver it or it is cancelled.