Growth Metrics and Analytics

If You Cannot Measure It, You Cannot Improve It

Every decision about where to invest — which features to build, which channels to prioritize, which user segments to focus on — should be informed by data. Vanity metrics look good in screenshots. Actionable metrics tell you what to do.

The Analytics Stack

• Website analytics: Plausible / PostHog — traffic, sources, pages
• Product analytics: PostHog / Mixpanel — feature usage, funnels
• Revenue analytics: Baremetrics / ChartMogul — MRR, churn, LTV
• Error monitoring: Sentry — exceptions, crashes
• Uptime: UptimeRobot — availability

PostHog is recommended for developer-built SaaS: open-source, covers website and product analytics, generous free tier.

The Pirate Metrics (AARRR)

• Acquisition — How do users find you?
• Activation — Do they have a good first experience? Complete the core action?
• Retention — Do they come back?
• Revenue — Do they pay? Free-to-paid conversion rate?
• Referral — Do they tell others?

Track each stage and find the biggest drop-off. That is where to focus.

Cohort Analysis

Group users by signup month and track behavior over time. Improving retention across cohorts means product improvements are working. Declining retention is a warning signal.

Vanity vs Actionable Metrics

• Total signups → Active users (DAU/MAU)
• Page views → Pages per session + bounce rate
• App downloads → D30 retention rate

Key Takeaways

• The AARRR framework maps your funnel — find the biggest drop-off and fix it before investing in earlier stages
• Cohort analysis reveals whether product improvements are actually improving retention
• Vanity metrics only go up; actionable metrics go up and down — they reflect real health
• Set up analytics before launch — you cannot retroactively recover data about early users