Netflix Subscription Health: Picking Three Metrics to Run the Product On

As the product manager for Netflix's streaming service, you are asked which three metrics you would focus on above all others. Name them, define each one precisely, and explain why each one earns its place in your top three. The interviewer wants a short list you can defend from what Netflix needs as a business, not a catalog of every number the service could track. ```hint Follow the subscription Netflix earns its money from members who decide to keep paying each month. Trace what has to happen for that to continue, and check that your three metrics watch different steps of that chain rather than measuring the same behavior three ways. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Do I own the whole streaming product, or one surface such as the TV app, the mobile app or the games catalog? - Is the current priority adding members, deepening engagement among existing members, or earning more per member, for example through the ad-supported plan or pricing? - Should the metrics be global, or tuned to a region where Netflix's position is different? - Are these metrics for tracking product health over time, or for judging individual launches and experiments? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal for Netflix grounded in its subscription model and maturity, which then drives the choice of metrics - Three metrics that cover different stages of the member lifecycle instead of three versions of watch time - A precise definition for each: numerator, denominator, time window, and why that window suits viewing habits and monthly billing - Where the metrics can mislead or conflict (an average rising while members leave, revenue rising from price while engagement falls) and the guardrails or segment cuts that catch it - What was deliberately left off the list and why ### Follow-up Questions - After a launch, average viewing per member rises but monthly churn also rises. How do you read that, and what do you check first? - How would your three metrics change for members on the ad-supported plan? - If you had to collapse the three into one north-star metric, which would you keep and what would you lose?