There are many methods to measure the success of your business. Pirate metrics is probably the easiest method of all. It defines 5 stages which customers take when they interact with your product. With a clear focus on these five stages, Product Managers could be effective in directing the company using a quantitative data approach that leads to better informed decisions.

1. Introduction to
Pirate Metrics
Tal Atzmon
@talatzmon

2. Why metrics are important
When you measure your
startup, you understand
what works well and what
doesn’t.
You don’t have to guess
or make wrong
assumptions.

4. It relies on many
things to be
optimized
- What does the storefront look
like?
- What is the atmosphere in the
restaurant like?
- Is the food on the menu
appealing?
- Do they feel comfortable with
the pricing?
These are all intersections on the
way to purchase food.
At any point, a customer may decide
to leave and not complete the
purchase.

5. Instead of guessing why customers leave,
use Pirate Metrics to measure your startup

6. Dave McClure
Investor
Serial Entrepreneur
Blogger
Pirate Metrics Creator

7. This is YOUR product
The Pirate Metrics
Illustration via Ash Maurya

8. The Pirate Metrics
This is YOUR product
How do users find you?
Outbound marketing
TV, cold calls, cold emails
Inbound marketing
SEO, SEM, blogs, guest posts,
webinars, meetups, social media,
email marketing
Illustration via Ash Maurya

9. The Pirate Metrics
This is YOUR product
User’s first good experience
Identify the “Aha!” Moment
Ran the first test
Reviewed the first report
It’s easy to fail with Activation
Poor onboarding
No beginner walkthrough
A complex UI
Illustration via Ash Maurya

10. The Pirate Metrics
This is YOUR product
Get those users to come back
regularly
The metric depends on your
application
DAU (whatsapp/Facebook)
WAU
MAU (accounting app)
Illustration via Ash Maurya

11. The Pirate Metrics
This is YOUR product
The user pays you
You may want to measure:
MRR / YRR
Churn rate
LTV
Illustration via Ash Maurya

12. The Pirate Metrics
This is YOUR product
Encourage users to refer
…when they have a positive
experience!
Referral mechanism
Social media
PR
Testimonials
Blog posts
Illustration via Ash Maurya

13. Which Metrics
Should You
Focus on?

14. Before Product/Market fit
Focus on bringing value to your customers:
Activation & Retention
Illustration via Ash Maurya

15. After Product/Market fit
Switch to Growth. Measure & optimize the entire funnel
Illustration via Ash Maurya

16. Avoid Analysis Paralysis
Focus on 1-3 Metrics at a time

17. What are good
metrics?
Accessible
What does the metric mean in the
context of your product?
Actionable
Can you make a decision based on
the result?
Comparable
Compare the metric for a reference
Rates or Ratios
More valuable than counting
absolute numbers

19. Example

20. 1050
“Which social network sends us the best traffic?”
1576
60%
40%
Total unique visitors Total paid signups Twitter CR vs. Facebook CR
Actionable
Comparable
Rate
P

21. Knowing the numbers is not enough
We have an Activation problem!Or maybe, we target the wrong
customers?

22. Examine the entire customer journey

23. Resources
Dave McClure: Pirate Metrics
How to set up AARRR Pirate Metrics in your Spreadsheet
A Beginner’s Guide To Pirate Metrics
A Beginners Introduction To Metrics & Analytics
SaaS Metrics 2.0 – A Guide to Measuring and Improving what Matters
SaaS Metrics 2.0 – Detailed Definitions

24. Thank You
@talatzmon