Key Concepts
Before diving into features, it helps to understand the core concepts that Valtrics is built on. This page explains the building blocks you'll work with every day.
The Valtrics Mental Model
Valtrics is built around a simple but powerful idea: every product decision should be connected to a measurable outcome. Here's how the core concepts fit together:
Organization (your workspace)
└── Products (what you build)
├── KPI Trees (how metrics connect to goals)
├── Metrics (how you measure)
└── Lifecycle Stage (maturity level)
Organization
An organization is your top-level account in Valtrics. Everything — products, KPI trees, metrics, and team members — belongs to an organization.
- Each organization is isolated. Data is never shared between organizations.
- Users belong to one organization.
- All access control is scoped to the organization level.
When you sign up or accept an invitation, you join an organization.
Product
A product is anything your team builds and delivers to users. It could be a mobile app, a web platform, an API, an internal tool, or a feature set.
Products have:
- Name and description
- Lifecycle stage (Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline)
- Owner — the person responsible
- Tags — for filtering and grouping
- One or more KPI trees linked to them
Products live in your portfolio, which gives you a bird's-eye view of everything your organization manages.
Portfolio
The portfolio is the collection of all products in your organization. It's the main dashboard view in Valtrics.
From the portfolio, you can:
- See all products at a glance
- Filter by lifecycle stage, owner, or tags
- Navigate to individual product details
- Spot products that need attention based on metric health
KPI Tree
A KPI tree is a visual, hierarchical breakdown of business goals into measurable metrics. It's the central feature of Valtrics.
Think of it like an org chart, but for metrics:
- The root node represents a high-level goal (e.g., "Revenue Growth")
- Child nodes break that goal into contributing factors
- Leaf nodes are the most granular, directly measurable metrics
KPI trees help you answer: "What do I need to measure, and how do those measurements connect to the outcome I care about?"
Why Trees?
Flat lists of KPIs don't show relationships. A tree structure makes it clear:
- Which metrics contribute to which outcomes
- Where a breakdown in performance is coming from
- What to focus on when a high-level metric is off track
Metric
A metric is a measurable value attached to a node in a KPI tree. Metrics have:
- Name — What you're measuring (e.g., "Monthly Active Users")
- Target — The goal value for a given time period
- Actual — The current or recorded value
- Time period — When the measurement applies (monthly, quarterly, etc.)
- Unit — How the metric is expressed (count, percentage, currency, etc.)
Metrics are what turn a KPI tree from a diagram into a performance tracking tool.
Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
- Leading indicators predict future performance. They're actionable — you can influence them now. Examples: signups this week, feature adoption rate, NPS score.
- Lagging indicators measure outcomes that have already happened. They confirm results. Examples: quarterly revenue, annual churn rate, lifetime value.
A good KPI tree includes both. Leading indicators at the leaf level feed into lagging indicators at the root.
Lifecycle Stages
Every product goes through a lifecycle. Valtrics uses four stages:
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| Introduction | New product, building initial traction. Focus on validation and early adoption. |
| Growth | Product-market fit achieved, scaling usage. Focus on acquisition and engagement. |
| Maturity | Stable user base, optimizing efficiency. Focus on retention and cost management. |
| Decline | Usage decreasing, evaluating next steps. Focus on migration, sunset, or pivot. |
The lifecycle stage affects which KPIs are most relevant. Valtrics uses this context when providing AI-powered recommendations.
Learn more about Lifecycle Stages
Value Discovery
Value Discovery is Valtrics' AI-powered feature that helps you:
- Identify the right KPIs for a product based on its lifecycle stage and type
- Spot gaps in your measurement approach
- Get suggestions for metrics you might be missing
- Receive recommendations for improving product performance
Learn more about Value Discovery
Roles and Permissions
Valtrics uses organization-level roles:
| Role | What They Can Do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Full access. Manage billing, members, and all settings. |
| Admin | Manage products, KPI trees, metrics, and members. |
| Member | View and edit products, KPI trees, and metrics. |
| Viewer | Read-only access to all data. |
All data access is enforced at the database level through Row-Level Security, so permissions can't be bypassed.
Learn more about Team & Workspace
Glossary
For a complete list of Valtrics terminology, see the Glossary.
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