Width metrics:

• Impressions
• Followers
• Likes
• Views

Depth metrics:

• DM’s
• Super fans
• Word of mouth
• Remembering it 6 months from now

All the long term wins for businesses and creators are going to those who invest in depth.

The biggest problem internet companies + creators face:

It’s much easier to measure width metrics than depth metrics currently.

This results in what I call “The Doerr Problem”

Whatever is easiest to be measured will be optimised for

We chase width because it’s easy to measure

“What gets measured gets managed.” - John Doerr

If you can measure depth, you could change the internet’s click bait culture

The Doerr Problem can be seen elsewhere:

It’s easier to quantify the number of friends than the quality of friends we have.

The Doerr problem in fitness:

It’s easier to quantify the number of reps in a workout than the form on the reps.

Again:

Depth (Form) > Width (Reps)