Tom Hulme on Leading Indicators for Founders and Government

A short comparison of product adoption and graduate retention.

THTom HulmeGuest · Managing partner and head of Europe
Channel
20VC with Harry Stebbings
Published
May 14, 2025
Video
0:24
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1 min
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English
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SUMMARY

In 30 seconds

Tom Hulme recalls a Stripe adoption metric and suggests that governments could use graduate retention as a leading indicator.

  1. 1Stripe’s metricThe founders tracked adoption among a defined group.
  2. 2Graduate retentionHulme proposes measuring the share who stay.
  3. 3Leading indicatorsHe favors signals that can inform action earlier.

Takeaways

  1. Define the group being measured.
  2. Watch signals that appear before final outcomes.
  3. Graduate retention is one proposed indicator.
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01

A product indicator

Investor Tom Hulme recalls that Stripe’s founders tracked the share of online Series A companies using their product. He describes the figure as high based on his experience.

Investor Tom Hulme recalls that Stripe’s founders tracked the share of online Series A companies using their product. He describes the figure as high based on his experience.

02

A talent indicator

He suggests that a government could similarly watch the share of graduates choosing to remain as an early indicator of its ability to retain talent.

He suggests that a government could similarly watch the share of graduates choosing to remain as an early indicator of its ability to retain talent.

Hulme argues that founders benefit from focusing on leading indicators rather than waiting only for lagging results.

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