data driven strategy | unit economics ltv cac | kpi design | north star metric | revenue operations | strategic planning
What You Will Learn:
- Read the three financial statements well enough to argue a strategy in them
- Use Porter’s five forces and the Boston matrix on your own market
- Choose a North Star metric and the supporting set beneath it
- Calculate unit economics and defend a price with them rather than by comparison
- Map a revenue funnel from lead to money and find where it leaks
- Connect team-level metrics to the profit and loss statement
- Derive indicators from critical success factors instead of inventing them
- Recognise the six measurement myths that break most systems
- Learn alongside Mike’s 1.6 million students from 185 countries
- Get the author’s experience from Preply, Wargaming, iDeals and Alfa-Bank
Overview: Beyond the “Data-Driven” Buzzword
Let’s be honest: “data-driven” is the most overused, diluted term in tech. I’ve sat through countless boardroom presentations where “strategy” was just a collection of vanity metrics slapped onto a slide deck. That’s why Data-Driven Strategy: KPIs, Unit Economics, Decisions caught my eye. It doesn’t treat data as a reporting requirement; it treats it as a survival mechanism. This isn’t a course that teaches you how to build a pretty dashboard in Tableau; it’s a masterclass in strategic planning and Revenue Operations (RevOps) designed to make you the most dangerous person in the room—the one who actually understands how the business breathes.
What sets this apart from the sea of generic business courses is the pedigree of the instruction. You aren’t learning from a career academic; you’re getting the battle-tested frameworks used at high-growth companies like Preply and Wargaming. The course bridges the massive gap between “knowing the numbers” and “influencing the P&L.” It moves past the theoretical and forces you into the mindset of an operator. Whether you are navigating a beginner to advanced career path, this curriculum is built around the friction points where most startups fail: poor unit economics and a lack of alignment between team-level output and actual profit.
Prerequisites
While the course is accessible, don’t expect a total hand-holding session. To get the most out of these hands-on labs, you should have a functional grasp of Excel or Google Sheets. You don’t need to be a data scientist, but you shouldn’t be afraid of a pivot table. A basic understanding of business hierarchies is helpful, as is a healthy skepticism of “standard” industry advice. This is essentially certification prep for anyone looking to move into a leadership or high-impact analytical role where the stakes are higher than just moving Jira tickets around.
Skills & Tools
The toolkit you walk away with is essentially the “Greatest Hits” of industry-standard tools and frameworks. You’ll dive deep into LTV/CAC modeling (Lifetime Value to Customer Acquisition Cost), which is the heartbeat of any scalable business. You’ll also master strategic planning frameworks like Porter’s Five Forces and the Boston Matrix, but applied to your specific market rather than a stale case study. The course places a heavy emphasis on KPI design, teaching you how to move away from “invented” metrics toward critical success factors that actually move the needle. You’ll also learn to map a revenue funnel with surgical precision, identifying exactly where the “leaks” are costing the company money.
Career Benefits & Job Roles
The job-ready skills gained here are a direct ticket to career growth in the modern tech landscape. If you’re looking to transition into roles like Head of Growth, RevOps Manager, Product Lead, or even a Strategic Finance position, this course provides the vocabulary you need to speak to the C-suite. You stop being the person who “does the data” and start being the person who “defines the direction.” By learning to connect team-level performance directly to the profit and loss statement, you make yourself indispensable. In a world of layoffs, the people who can prove their team’s direct impact on the bottom line are the ones who stay.
Pros
- Real-World Projects: This isn’t abstract. You are encouraged to apply the unit economics and North Star metric frameworks to your own company or a real-world project, making the ROI of the course immediate.
- Financial Literacy for Non-Finance Pros: It de-mystifies the three financial statements. Being able to argue a strategy based on a balance sheet is a superpower that most marketing and product managers lack.
- Myth Busting: The section on the “six measurement myths” is worth the price of admission alone. It saves you months of wasted effort tracking the wrong things.
- Expert Insight: Mike’s experience at Alfa-Bank and iDeals brings a level of “seen-it-all” cynicism that is refreshing and honest.
Cons
- Intensity: This isn’t a “watch while you fold laundry” kind of course. The density of information regarding revenue funnels and strategic frameworks requires focused attention and a fair bit of mental heavy lifting. If you’re looking for a quick, easy win, this might feel overwhelming.