Big Rocks First: OKRs that Drive Results for Seed-Stage Startups
- Matt McDougall
- Apr 11
- 4 min read
In seed-stage startups, focus is survival. With limited resources, a lean team, and endless cats to herd, knowing precisely where to lock in can be your most valuable asset.
This is where combining OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) with the "Big Rocks" philosophy becomes essential. These frameworks help seed-stage startups zero in on what truly matters, keep teams aligned, and make consistent, impactful progress.
The Reality of Seed-Stage Startups
At the seed stage, startups typically juggle limited resources and endless possibilities. While this stage brims with opportunity, it's also fraught with danger. Trying to do too much often dilutes your impact, wastes precious runway, and leads to burnout. Traditional goal-setting approaches that rely heavily on detailed metrics and processes frequently fail here because they're cumbersome and inflexible.
You don't need a complicated system; you need clarity and simplicity.
The "Big Rocks" Philosophy: Less Is More
Unless you’ve been living under, well, a rock, you’ve probably heard of the “big rocks” concept: if your time is a jar, you should place your biggest priorities (your "big rocks") into the jar first. Smaller tasks (the pebbles and sand) will naturally flow and fit around them. But if you start with minor tasks, you'll never fit in your highest-impact goals.
Basically, it means focusing on fewer, more impactful priorities.
At LaunchWave, we've found that concentrating your focus into three big rocks provides a clear, actionable framework. Three is just enough to address core business needs without spreading yourself too thin. Stretch beyond three, and you risk diluting your focus across too many initiatives. With fewer, you might miss critical dimensions of your business.
Typical Big Rocks for Seed-Stage SaaS Startups
From our research and hands-on experience, these stand out as the three most critical big rocks for seed-stage SaaS startups:
1. Product-Market Fit & Development: At this stage, your objective is to build an MVP that addresses a real customer need. Your OKRs might look like:
Objective: Validate product-market fit.
Key Results:
Attract 100 active weekly users.
Achieve an NPS score of 40+ from beta users.
2. User Acquisition: Proving your product can attract and retain users is fundamental. Typical OKRs might include:
Objective: Secure initial traction with early adopters.
Key Results:
Acquire 50 paying customers.
Reach 5,000 active users.
Generate at least 10 press mentions or articles.
3. Revenue Growth & Viability: Even modest early revenue validates your business model and attracts future funding. For instance:
Objective: Generate early revenue traction.
Key Results:
Hit $200K ARR from pilot conversions.
Demonstrate 3x year-over-year growth indicators.
Cascading OKRs: Aligning the Entire Team
Effective startups don’t just set company-level OKRs, they cascade them down to each department (and at this stage, "department" might just be a person). This ensures every team is contributing directly to the core objectives.
Say your big rock is user growth, and you’re aiming for 3,500 active users by the end of Q2. Your marketing team might take on a key result to boost website traffic by 50%, while product might focus on improving onboarding completion by 30%. Each department defines its own set of actionable, measurable goals aligned directly with the company-wide OKRs.
Implementing OKRs: A Step-by-Step Guide
How do you get from big rocks to OKRs to projects, in practice?
CEO and Board Identify Big Rocks: Clarify the few high-impact objectives that matter most.
Department Leaders Translate into Team OKRs: Each team creates aligned OKRs that ladder up to these objectives.
Teams Initiate Projects: Develop clear projects and initiatives to hit your OKRs.
Regular Check-ins and Adjustments: Schedule weekly or bi-weekly reviews to monitor progress and pivot as necessary.
Common Pitfalls and Solutions
Setting OKRs seems easy in a vacuum. But the realities of startup life can throw the best plans out of whack. Beware these common traps:
Taking On Too Many Priorities: It’s tempting to stretch to just one more thing, but stick to your three big rocks. Everything else can wait.
Setting Unclear Metrics: When metrics lack specificity, team members might pursue different directions based on their individual understanding, wasting resources and creating misalignment. Concrete numbers and timeframes (like "increase conversion by 15% by Q3" rather than "improve conversion rates") create accountability and make success objectively measurable.
Clinging to Outdated Targets: When evidence proves your initial hypothesis wrong or external factors dramatically shift the landscape, reassess rather than pushing forward with misguided goals. Early-stage startups need OKRs for prioritization, but must be ready to pivot when reality doesn't match expectations.
Falling For Shiny Object Syndrome: Stay focused. When new opportunities arise mid-quarter, evaluate them against your established priorities before shifting resources. Constantly chasing fresh ideas without completing existing work fragments team energy, creates confusion, and prevents meaningful progress on any single initiative.
Conclusion: The Multiplier Effect of Clear Direction
It's tempting to dismiss OKRs as another bureaucratic exercise, but for startups, they’re a vital focusing mechanism. They force clarity, align efforts, and over time build compounding progress. As incremental improvements stack up, each cycle of clear, aligned efforts makes the next cycle easier, faster, and more effective, creating a flywheel that accelerates your startup's growth.
Want to discuss implementing effective OKRs in your startup? Let's talk about how LaunchWave can help you create focus and alignment that grows with your vision.