OKR Examples: 15 Real-World Goals from Google, Netflix & More
OKRs work best when you see them in action. Abstract frameworks are hard to apply. Real examples make them click. According to Mooncamp's 2022 OKR Impact Report, 83% of companies using OKRs report a positive impact on their organization. But copying someone else's OKRs won't get you there. You need to understand why these examples work, then adapt them to your context.
This guide gives you 15 real-world OKR examples from Google, Netflix, Spotify, and top product teams. Each example includes the objective, key results, and guidance on how to adapt it to your situation. For a complete guide to the framework itself, see the Practical OKR Planning Guide.
What Makes a Great OKR Example?
Before diving into the examples, let's establish what separates effective OKRs from goal-setting theater. Google's re:Work team defines the sweet spot for OKR achievement at 60-70%. If you're hitting 100% every quarter, your goals aren't ambitious enough.
"Strategy by definition is choosing what not to do." — Christian Idiodi, Silicon Valley Product Group
This insight applies directly to OKRs. The examples below aren't just well-formatted goals. They represent hard choices about what matters most. Each one forces focus.
A study by Haufe Talent and Stuttgart University found that 78% of employees using OKRs are satisfied with their jobs, compared to only 65% in companies without OKRs. The framework provides clarity, and these examples show you how to create that clarity for your own team.
Company-Wide OKR Examples
Company-level OKRs set the strategic direction. They cascade down to teams and individuals, creating alignment across the organization.
Example 1: Google's First OKR (1999)
When John Doerr introduced OKRs to Google in 1999, the company had just 40 employees. He presented this as their first company-wide OKR:
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Build a great search engine |
| Key Result 1 | An index of 1 billion web pages |
| Key Result 2 | 10 million queries per day |
| Key Result 3 | Less than 0.5 second response time for 95% of queries |
Why it works: The objective is ambitious but clear. The key results are specific, measurable, and time-bound. Notice they measure outcomes (queries, response time), not outputs (features shipped).
How to adapt: Replace "great search engine" with your core product promise. Identify the 2-3 metrics that would prove you delivered on that promise.
Example 2: Netflix Content Strategy
Netflix has used OKRs to drive their content strategy and global expansion:
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Become the global leader in original content |
| Key Result 1 | Release 50 new original series with average rating above 4.0 |
| Key Result 2 | Achieve 60% of viewing hours from original content |
| Key Result 3 | Win 10+ major industry awards for original productions |
Why it works: Combines quantity (50 series), quality (4.0 rating, awards), and business impact (60% viewing hours). The key results prevent gaming any single metric.
How to adapt: If you're building a content or media product, balance volume metrics with quality indicators. External validation (awards, reviews) adds accountability.
Example 3: Spotify Team Alignment
Spotify famously uses a "squad" model where autonomous teams align through shared OKRs:
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Make music discovery effortless for every user |
| Key Result 1 | Increase personalized playlist engagement from 35% to 50% of active users |
| Key Result 2 | Reduce time-to-first-song from 15 seconds to under 5 seconds |
| Key Result 3 | Achieve 40% of listening from algorithmically recommended content |
Why it works: The objective connects to Spotify's core product vision. Key results span different aspects of the user experience (engagement, speed, recommendation quality).
How to adapt: Identify the core value proposition of your product. What would "effortless" look like in your context? Set key results that measure different dimensions of that experience.
Product Team OKR Examples
Product teams typically focus on user activation, retention, and feature adoption. These examples come from real B2B and B2C product organizations.
Example 4: Onboarding Optimization
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Make new users successful from day one |
| Key Result 1 | Increase 7-day activation rate from 25% to 45% |
| Key Result 2 | Reduce time-to-first-value from 14 days to 3 days |
| Key Result 3 | Decrease support tickets from new users by 40% |
Why it works: Activation rate is the leading indicator. Time-to-value measures speed. Support tickets measure friction. Together they paint a complete picture of onboarding health.
"An email address is a valuable commodity. That in itself is great validation." — Jim Semick, Co-founder of ProductPlan
How to adapt: Define what "activation" means for your product. What action proves a user understood the value? Measure the time between signup and that action.
Example 5: Retention and Engagement
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Build a product users can't imagine leaving |
| Key Result 1 | Increase 30-day retention from 40% to 55% |
| Key Result 2 | Grow weekly active users from 10K to 25K |
| Key Result 3 | Achieve NPS of 50+ (currently 32) |
Why it works: Retention is the lagging indicator of product-market fit. Weekly active users measures growth. NPS captures user sentiment. All three reinforce each other.
How to adapt: Choose the retention window that matches your product's natural usage pattern. For a daily-use app, measure 7-day retention. For a monthly tool, measure 60-day retention.
Example 6: Feature Launch Success
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Launch a collaborative workspace that teams love |
| Key Result 1 | Achieve 30% adoption among existing customers within 60 days |
| Key Result 2 | Generate 500 team workspaces with 3+ active members each |
| Key Result 3 | Maintain feature satisfaction score above 4.2/5 |
Why it works: Adoption rate measures reach. Team workspaces with active members measures depth. Satisfaction ensures you're not sacrificing quality for adoption.
How to adapt: Set adoption targets based on your customer base size. For new features, 20-30% adoption in the first quarter is typically ambitious but achievable.
Engineering OKR Examples
Engineering teams often struggle to write OKRs that aren't just task lists. The key is focusing on outcomes that engineering uniquely enables.
Example 7: Technical Debt Reduction
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Build a codebase developers want to work in |
| Key Result 1 | Reduce critical bug backlog from 47 to under 10 |
| Key Result 2 | Decrease average bug resolution time from 5 days to 2 days |
| Key Result 3 | Achieve 80% test coverage on core modules (currently 45%) |
Why it works: Technical debt is often invisible to stakeholders. These key results make the impact visible through metrics everyone understands: bugs, speed, and reliability.
How to adapt: Don't measure lines of code refactored. Measure the outcomes of refactoring: fewer bugs, faster deployments, happier developers.
Example 8: Platform Reliability
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Deliver a platform customers can depend on |
| Key Result 1 | Achieve 99.95% uptime (currently 99.7%) |
| Key Result 2 | Reduce P1 incident response time from 30 minutes to 10 minutes |
| Key Result 3 | Decrease mean time to recovery from 4 hours to 1 hour |
Why it works: SLAs and incident metrics directly impact customer trust and revenue. These are outcomes engineering owns completely.
How to adapt: Start with your current baseline. A jump from 99% to 99.99% is exponentially harder than 99% to 99.5%. Set targets that stretch but don't break the team.
Example 9: Developer Experience
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Make shipping code fast and safe |
| Key Result 1 | Reduce deployment time from 45 minutes to under 10 minutes |
| Key Result 2 | Increase deployment frequency from weekly to daily |
| Key Result 3 | Achieve 95% of deployments with zero rollbacks |
Why it works: Fast, safe deployments enable everything else. This OKR accelerates the entire engineering organization.
How to adapt: Measure what currently slows down your team. Is it CI/CD pipeline time? Code review bottlenecks? Test flakiness? Target the biggest constraint.
Marketing and Growth OKR Examples
Marketing OKRs should focus on pipeline and revenue impact, not vanity metrics like impressions or followers.
Example 10: Brand Awareness
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Establish thought leadership in our category |
| Key Result 1 | Grow organic traffic from 50K to 100K monthly visitors |
| Key Result 2 | Generate 500 marketing qualified leads from content |
| Key Result 3 | Secure speaking slots at 5 industry conferences |
Why it works: Organic traffic indicates reach. MQLs prove the traffic converts. Conference speaking validates external recognition.
How to adapt: Define "marketing qualified" precisely. A lead that downloads a whitepaper differs from one that requests a demo. Match your key results to your funnel.
Example 11: Acquisition Efficiency
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Build a sustainable customer acquisition engine |
| Key Result 1 | Reduce customer acquisition cost from $150 to $100 |
| Key Result 2 | Achieve CAC payback period under 6 months |
| Key Result 3 | Grow organic/referral signups from 20% to 40% of total |
Why it works: CAC and payback period measure efficiency. Organic/referral percentage measures sustainability. Together they ensure growth doesn't burn cash.
How to adapt: Know your unit economics. CAC targets should be based on customer lifetime value, not arbitrary benchmarks.
Example 12: Product-Led Growth
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Objective | Turn the product into our primary growth channel |
| Key Result 1 | Increase viral coefficient from 0.3 to 0.6 |
| Key Result 2 | Achieve 25% of signups from in-product referrals |
| Key Result 3 | Grow freemium-to-paid conversion from 2% to 5% |
Why it works: Viral coefficient measures organic spread. Referral percentage tracks channel mix. Conversion rate ensures growth translates to revenue.
"It's not an experiment if you're not willing to kill the idea." — Josh Seiden, Co-author of Lean UX
How to adapt: Product-led growth requires product changes, not just marketing. Ensure your product team is aligned on the same objective. See the product-led growth guide for more context.
Good vs. Bad OKR Examples
The difference between effective and ineffective OKRs often comes down to subtle phrasing. Here are five common mistakes with corrections:
| Bad OKR | Problem | Good OKR |
|---|---|---|
| Launch new onboarding flow | Task, not outcome | Increase onboarding completion from 40% to 70% |
| Improve customer satisfaction | Vague, unmeasurable | Achieve NPS of 50+ (currently 32) |
| Reduce churn | No baseline or target | Reduce monthly churn from 8% to 5% |
| Ship 10 new features | Output, not outcome | Increase feature adoption rate from 15% to 40% |
| Be more agile | Describes behavior, not result | Reduce average feature cycle time from 6 weeks to 2 weeks |
According to Mooncamp's analysis of thousands of OKRs, 52% of Key Results are actually KPIs in disguise. A KPI monitors ongoing health. A Key Result drives specific improvement. "Track customer churn" is a KPI. "Reduce churn from 8% to 5% by Q2" is a Key Result.
For a deeper comparison, see OKRs vs KPIs: What's the Difference.
How to Write Your Own OKRs
John Doerr's formula remains the clearest starting point:
"I will [OBJECTIVE] as measured by [KEY RESULT]."
Start with the objective. Ask yourself: "What's the most important thing our team needs to accomplish this quarter?" The answer should be ambitious enough to feel uncomfortable but not impossible.
Then add key results. For each objective, ask: "How will we know we've achieved this?" Identify 2-4 measurable outcomes. Each key result should be:
- Specific: No ambiguity about what success looks like
- Measurable: A number you can track
- Time-bound: Achievable within the quarter
- Outcome-focused: Measures results, not activities
For a complete walkthrough of the framework, see the OKR Framework Guide.
Common OKR Mistakes to Avoid
After coaching dozens of teams on OKRs, these patterns appear repeatedly:
Mistake #1: Too Many Objectives
More than 3-5 objectives per team dilutes focus. If everything is a priority, nothing is. The power of OKRs comes from forcing hard choices.
Mistake #2: Sandbagging Goals
When teams consistently hit 100% of their OKRs, something is wrong. Either they're setting easy goals, or they've confused OKRs with performance commitments. The 70% target exists because stretch goals should stretch.
Mistake #3: Set and Forget
Setting OKRs in January and reviewing them in March is a recipe for failure. Without weekly check-ins, OKRs become artifacts rather than tools.
"Story mapping should be persistent throughout development, not just upfront planning." — James & Tim, Avion.io founders
The same applies to OKRs. They're living documents that guide weekly decisions, not quarterly ceremonies.
Mistake #4: Disconnecting from Strategy
OKRs should flow directly from your product strategy. If your OKRs don't clearly connect to strategic priorities, they're just arbitrary goals. Ask: "If we achieve all our OKRs, will we have made meaningful progress on our strategy?"
For more on avoiding these pitfalls, see 5 OKR Best Practices That Actually Work.
Start with One OKR This Week
Don't try to implement the entire OKR system at once. That's how initiatives die. Instead:
- Pick one team or project
- Write one objective that captures what matters most this quarter
- Define 3 key results that would prove you achieved it
- Review progress every week
After one quarter, you'll have learned enough to expand. The companies that succeed with OKRs aren't the ones who got it perfect on day one. They're the ones who kept iterating.
What are your experiences with OKRs? Share your examples or questions on LinkedIn.