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Success Metrics & Exit Criteria

Tiered Metrics — Not Absolute Targets

Lesson 5 of 10 · 1 min · Updated 2 September 2026

KU-First — 3 Tiers

  • Tier 1 — Proof of Life (Day 30) — Strangers buy it (conversion exists). At least a trickle of KU page reads. One channel shows movement beyond launch-week friends.
  • Tier 2 — Working Engine (Day 60) — Repeatable visibility channel identified. Upward trend — not just a single spike. Email list beginning to grow. Ad spend has a clear rationale.
  • Tier 3 — Scale-Ready (Day 90) — Profitable or strategically justified ad spend. Clear next book plan. KU vs Wide decision made from data — not boredom or platform anxiety.

KU-First Exit Criteria

  • Exclusivity is blocking growth — demonstrable non-Amazon demand exists
  • Ads cannot be made profitable after fixing conversion fundamentals
  • Wide channels calling — international sales signals, library interest

Wide-First — 3 Tiers

  • Tier 1 — Proof of Life (Month 2) — Non-Amazon sales exist — even small. Email list growing. One store shows signs of repeatability across two cycles.
  • Tier 2 — Working Engine (Month 4) — At least one non-Amazon platform has repeat buyers. Repeatable promo stack identified. Multi-platform pricing strategy is working.
  • Tier 3 — Scale-Ready (Month 6) — Sustainable visibility across 2+ platforms. List monetisation working. Clear expansion plan — IngramSpark, libraries, or international markets.

Wide-First Exit Criteria

  • Amazon dominates revenue anyway and KU would materially help
  • Cannot sustain multi-platform management workload
  • Single platform shows overwhelming, lopsided traction

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