Simplest guide you’ll see: How to make OKRs work at your startup

By Ksenia Novikova, head of operations at F1V

Tried OKRs and didn’t get the point? Don’t give up on them just yet. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Netflix use them for a reason.

Unlike KPIs, OKRs are about setting ambitious goals, not just tracking numbers. They can serve as a compass for your company.

As head of ops and growth at Flyer One Ventures, I’ve heard founders say OKRs don’t work for small teams or fast-changing environments. I believe they’re wrong. OKRs bring clarity, focus, and alignment — always.

Give this goal-setting framework another chance, and let me help you do it right.

Don’t make revenue your main objective

When people first try working with OKRs, it’s tempting to set revenue targets as the main objective. It seems logical — after all, generating more revenue is always a good thing (thanks, Captain Obvious).

But here’s the problem: A random number just sits there and doesn’t give anybody any understanding of how to actually achieve it. That’s not the purpose of OKRs.

❌ Wrong approach:

Objective: $2M in revenue this quarter.

Key results: 1/ Achieve $1m in B2B sales.

2/ Achieve $1m in B2C sales.

3/ Increase user growth by X%.

The right OKRs must be actionable goals that people can achieve through concrete effort.

✅ Right approach:

Objective: Increase product margin by 1.5x.

Key results:

1/ Reduce production costs by 30% by automating processes.

2/ Increase average sale price by 15% by enhancing product features.

3/ Improve customer retention rate by 15%.

The above are clearer goals, and people can understand exactly what they need to do. Revenue will be the result of your actions, not the primary objective.

Set goals that push you — but don’t break you

Saying you want to “be number one in your industry” sounds exciting, but what does it really mean? And how can you take clear steps toward it in 90 days, the typical timeframe for OKRs?

A better approach is, once again, to be more concrete. “Bring in XXX number of new clients” or “close XXX B2B contracts with major companies” are stronger objectives than something vague like “become a leader” in an industry.

For early-stage startups, “developing and launching an MVP within 3 months” could be a good objective that they will be able to achieve by setting particular key results (KRs; the bigger part of the acronym). KR1, in this case, could be “completing the wireframes”; KR2 — developing and testing particular features; and KR3 — doing the beta-launch.

One more example of a strong objective, in my view: “Conduct a market analysis to identify the top 3 customer segments by the end of Q2.” KRs could be built around customer interviews, competitor analysis, and segmentation.

Set goals you can achieve, but don’t forget ambition. The best OKRs aren’t meant to hit 100%, and I stand by that. If you crush your OKRs in a month and coast for two, you’re not winning — you’re cheating yourself.

Your max is 3 objectives per quarter

OKRs are about focus — their main goal is to keep your eyes on the ball. You can’t juggle sales, product, marketing, partnerships, and a dozen other priorities at once. Stick to three main objectives each quarter.

Start by asking yourself, “Why am I building this business?” It’s a simple question, but many founders struggle to answer it.

Take this common example: If your mission is to “revolutionize e-commerce with sustainable fashion,” prioritizing a product line made from eco-friendly materials makes sense. Or, if you’re focused on simplifying SaaS for SMEs, improving the onboarding experience could drive growth.

Here’s another scenario: Let’s say you run a healthtech startup selling software to large medical centers, and your goal is to attract more partners. Instead of overloading your OKRs with “research new partners,” “schedule 20 meetings,” or “boost PR,” you might just need one: “Hire a killer salesperson.” Simple, right?

Focus on what drives profit and aligns with your growth strategy — whether it’s tapping into new markets or upselling existing clients. Align your team behind those priorities.

When you’re clear on your “why,” those 10 goals quickly distill into three.

OKRs are a compass, not a cage

OKRs aren’t meant to box you in. But poorly set objectives can do just that — they can stifle proactive employees.

Imagine you’re building a mobile app and aim to boost usage by 25% (that’s your objective). You break it down (your KRs): increase sign-ups by 5,000, grow retention by 15%, and roll out a marketing campaign in key regions.

Then one day, your intern suggests partnering with micro-influencers. It’s not part of the plan, so you brush it off. But what if the intern doesn’t listen to you, reaches out to a few influencers, secures barter deals, and suddenly, sign-ups jump by 50%, with adoption rates following?

That wasn’t in your OKRs, but it crushed expectations. This is why OKRs should guide you — they’re the compass, not the cage. As a manager, your job is to set clear priorities while leaving room for creativity and initiative.

Keep your team focused, but if someone has a fresh idea and their KRs are at least 60% on track, let them experiment. Sometimes, the biggest wins come from outside the original plan.

Alignment beats chaos every time

Disconnected teams can’t be efficient. People end up working on random tasks, and no one understands the big picture. To avoid this, don’t push KRs onto teams from the top down.

Hold team-wide meetings to explain the company’s objectives, then let teams set their own KRs. This way, everyone can align their work with the bigger plan.

Make objectives and key results easy for everyone to see: maybe by creating a page on Notion, or using any other similar tools. This helps marketing know what sales or product is doing — and makes sure everyone is heading in the same direction.

One last thing: Don’t use OKRs in performance reviews. Plans can change, and no one should feel they have to finish a useless task just to tick a box.

This story for the F1V LinkedIn blog is a rewrite of my op-ed for Sifted titled, “Founders, if your OKRs don’t work, you just set them wrong.” My goal is to expand on the message I shared with Sifted readers.

Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter to get one useful article every week via email and on LinkedIn. We promise each story to be insightful and take less than 5 minutes to read.