There is a cycle that plagues a lot of companies. It typically works like this: 1. XYZ startup wants some press, so they look for some bloated number to give the writer (downloads, registrations, visits, etc) 2. XYZ startup then celebrates that press article internally supporting the message that the bloated metric is worth pursuing 3. In order to get additional press hits, XYZ startup needs to increase that bloated number, so they focus on increasing it (back to Step 1) This cycle is what I call the Wheel Of Meaningless Growth.