david@citrusbyte.com

MOST PRODUCTS FAIL

RAISED LOTS OF MONEY TONS OF USERS HIGH TRANSACTION VOLUME

On September 22nd, 2015 Quirky Declared Bankruptcy

What can we learn from looking at companies like Quirky?

How can you chart the unknown territory of innovation?

How do todays growth companies use metrics to stay ahead?

DATA STRATEGIES

The right data strategy is transformative for your product,

people, and business

1. Avoid “Vanity” MetricsDATA STRATEGY

SYMPTOM 1 VANITY METRICS

Vanity metrics are designed to make you feel good

SYMPTOM 2 VANITY METRICS

Vanity metrics are not tied closely to business progress

SYMPTOM 3 VANITY METRICS

Vanity metrics are typically defined as raw numbers

The problem with vanity metrics:

Image from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/throw-away-vanity-metrics/

Vanity metrics examples:• Pageview count

• Website hit count

• Total registered users

• Number of unique visitors

• Number of followers/friends/likes

• Time on site/number of pages

• Emails collected

• Total downloads

Who do we measure meaningful and actionable information?

2. Use “Actionable” MetricsDATA STRATEGY

ACTIONABLE METRICS

Actionable metrics tie specific and repeatable

actions to observed results

SYMPTOM 1 ACTIONABLE METRICS

Actionable metrics are commonly represented using

funnels, cohorts, or A/B testing

SYMPTOM 2 ACTIONABLE METRICS

Actionable metrics are high level enough to point in the direction of a problem (but not solve it)

Actionable metrics examples:

Metric Types:

• A/B Testing

• Per-customer metrics

• Cohort analysis

• Funnel analysis

Examples:

• Customer Lifetime Value

• Customer Acquisition Cost (paid/blended)

• Active Users (per time period)

• Churn

• Month-on-month growth

Vanity Metrics Actionable MetricsVS

• Raw numbers like page views

• Don’t represent business progress

• Don’t represent customer value

• Tie actions to results

• Per-customer or cohort

• Often represent value creation

How can you start small today?

3. Unit EconomicsDATA STRATEGY

What are unit economics?

Pirate metrics

Acquisition

Activation

Retention

Revenue

Referral

How do users find you?

Do users have a great first experience?

Do users come back?

How do you make money?

Do users tell others?

Cohort Analysis

Retention (50) Retention (100)

Acquisition (1000)

Activation (300)

Revenue (10)

Referral (5)

Acquisition (1000)

Activation (300)

Revenue (20)

Referral (10)

Acquisition

Activation

Retention

Revenue

Referral

Week 1 Week 2 Week 2

Simple & Easy to Track

4. Give Metrics PowerDATA STRATEGY

1. Create a build-measure-learn loop

Image from http://leanstack.com/how-we-use-lean-stack-for-innovation-accounting/

2. Take a step back from features

2. Take a step back from features

Ideas to increase customer engagement

3. Use the three “A’s”

Actionable

Accessible

Auditable

1. Avoid “Vanity” Metrics

2. Use “Actionable” Metrics

3. Unit Economics

4. Give Metrics Power