Metric Glossary
A definitive handbook of product metrics. Understand the math, the meaning, and the common pitfalls before you optimize.
DAU
growthDaily Active Users
The number of unique users who engage with your product within a 24-hour window.
Count(Unique Users with > 0 Sessions in 24h)- Avoid vanity: Define "Active" strictly. Viewing a page might not be enough; performing a core action is better.
- Fluctuations: DAU can be volatile on weekends vs weekdays.
MAU
growthMonthly Active Users
The number of unique users who engage with your product within a 30-day window.
Count(Unique Users with > 0 Sessions in 30 days)- Lagging indicator: A drop in MAU is often noticed too late.
- Good for high-level health checks, but less actionable than DAU or WAU.
WAU
growthWeekly Active Users
The number of unique users who engage with your product within a 7-day window.
Count(Unique Users with > 0 Sessions in 7 days)- Ideal for B2B products where usage is consistently weekly but not necessarily daily.
- Less volatile than DAU, more actionable than MAU.
Active Hosts
growthActive Hosts (Marketplace)
Supply-side users who are actively providing services (hosting meetings, listing homes, etc.).
Count(Hosts with > 0 Active Listings or Sessions)- Supply constraints: In marketplaces, supply is often the constraint. Tracking active hosts is as critical as active buyers.
- Quality over Quantity: 10 active super-hosts are better than 100 inactive ones.
New Host Signups / Signups
growthNew User Signups
The number of new users registering an account for the first time.
Count(Users Registering Account)- Top of Funnel: High signups with low activation is a sign of poor targeting or onboarding, not success.
- Spam Risk: Be aware of bot signups inflating this number.
Activation Rate
growthUser Activation Rate
The percentage of new users who hit a specific milestone (the "Aha! moment") within a defined period.
(Users who performed Activation Event / Total New Users) * 100- Critical metric: Signups without activation is a leaky bucket.
- Time-bound: Always define a window (e.g. Activated within 7 days).
Subscriber Base
growthTotal Subscribers
The total count of users with an active subscription.
Count(Users with status = "active")- Paused vs Churned: Decide how to handle paused subscriptions. They are not active, but not fully churned.
- Tier Mix: Track the breakdown of Basic vs Premium subscribers.
Organic Traffic
growthOrganic User Traffic
Visits to your site/app that come from unpaid search results.
Count(Sessions where Source = Organic Search)- SEO Health: Primary indicator of SEO performance.
- Brand Strength: High direct/organic traffic often signals strong brand recall.
Viral Coefficient (K-factor)
growthViral Coefficient
The number of new users each existing user successfully converts.
Avg # of Invitations sent * Conversion rate of Invitations- K > 1: Exponential growth (Viral).
- K < 1: Linear or decaying growth (Paid/Organic dependent).
CPI
growthCost Per Install
The price paid by the advertiser to acquire a new user installation of a mobile application.
Total Ad Spend / Total Installs- Platform Variance: CPI on iOS is typically higher than Android.
- Fraud: Watch out for install farms inflating numbers.
ARR
revenueAnnual Recurring Revenue
The value of the recurring subscription revenue of a company normalized to a single calendar year.
Sum(Annual Subscription Value of all active customers)- Don't include one-time fees (consulting, setup).
- Committed vs Contracted: Use committed revenue for accurate forecasting.
GMV
revenueGross Merchandise Value
The total value of merchandise sold over a given period of time through a customer-to-customer (C2C) exchange site or e-commerce platform.
Sales Price * Number of Items Sold- Revenue is separate: GMV is not your revenue; it is the throughput. Revenue is GMV * Take Rate.
- Returns: Gross GMV usually includes returns; Net GMV excludes them.
TPV
revenueTotal Payment Volume
The total value of transactions processed through a payments platform.
Sum(Value of all processed transactions)- Metric for Fintech: Similar to GMV for e-commerce. Indicates scale/throughput.
- Currency fluctuations: Be careful when aggregating TPV across multiple currencies.
AOV
revenueAverage Order Value
The average amount spent each time a customer places an order.
Total Revenue / Total Number of Orders- Pricing Strategy: Increasing AOV is often easier than getting new customers (bundling, upsells).
- Beware of outlines: One whale buyer can skew the average. Check the median too.
ARPU
revenueAverage Revenue Per User
The average revenue generated per active individual user.
Total Revenue / Total Active Users- Segementation key: ARPU varies wildly by cohort (e.g. Free vs Pro). Always segment.
- Vanity warning: High ARPU with shrinking user base is a warning sign of a niche product.
LTV
revenueLifetime Value
The predicted net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.
(ARPU * Gross Margin %) / Churn Rate- Prediction hazard: LTV is a forecast, not a fact. Be conservative with churn assumptions.
- LTV:CAC Ratio: Ideally 3:1. If 1:1, you are bleeding money. If 5:1, you are under-investing in growth.
CAC
revenueCustomer Acquisition Cost
The cost associated with convincing a customer to buy a product/service.
(Sales + Marketing Expenses) / Number of New Customers Acquired- Blended vs Paid: Blended CAC hides the inefficiency of paid channels. Always calculate Paid CAC separately.
- Time lag: Marketing spend today might not produce users for months (in B2B).
CAC Payback Period
revenueCAC Payback Period
The time it takes to earn back the cost of acquiring a customer.
CAC / (ARPU * Gross Margin %)- Cash efficiency: For startups, < 12 months is the goal. > 18 months creates cash flow drag.
- Segment: SMB payback should be faster (6-9mo) than Enterprise (12-18mo).
Gross Margin
revenueGross Margin
The percentage of revenue left after subtracting the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).
((Revenue - COGS) / Revenue) * 100- SaaS scalability: High gross margins (80%+) explain why software companies are valued highly.
- COGS: Includes hosting, support, and payment fees, but not R&D.
EBITDA
revenueEBITDA
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. A proxy for operating cash flow.
Net Income + Interest + Taxes + Depreciation + Amortization- Valuation: Common valuation metric for mature companies.
- Rule of 40: Growth Rate + EBITDA Margin should be > 40%.
Win Rate
revenueSales Opportunity Win Rate
The percentage of sales opportunities that convert into closed deals.
(Closed Won Deals / Total Opportunities) * 100- Pipeline Quality: Low win rate usually means poor lead qualification, not just bad sales skills.
- Stage analysis: Track conversion rate per stage to find the bottleneck.
Pipeline Value
revenueSales Pipeline Value
The total estimated value of all open sales opportunities.
Sum(Opportunity Value * Probability to Close)- Forecast accuracy: Weighted pipeline is only as good as the probability estimates.
- Stale deals: Remove deals that have been "open" too long to keep pipeline realistic.
New Business Revenue
revenueRevenue from New Customers
Revenue generated strictly from new logos acquired in the period.
Sum(Revenue from Customers with StartDate in Period)- Hunter vs Farmer: Measures the effectiveness of your sales "hunters".
- Discounting impacts: Watch out for high new biz rev driven by unsustainable discounts.
Expansion Revenue
revenueExpansion Revenue
Additional revenue generated from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, or add-ons.
Sum(Upsell + Cross-sell Revenue)- Cheaper growth: Expanding existing customers is 5-25x cheaper than acquiring new ones.
- Net Retention driver: This is the fuel for NDR > 100%.
Burn Rate
revenueNet Burn Rate
The rate at which a company uses its cash reserves to cover operating expenses.
Cash Spent - Cash Revenue (per month)- Runway calculator: Cash Balance / Burn Rate = Months of Runway.
- Efficiency: High burn is acceptable only if growth is efficiently high (Magic Number > 1).
Runway
revenueCash Runway
The amount of time a company has before it runs out of cash.
Current Cash Balance / Monthly Net Burn Rate- Survival metric: 18-24 months is standard for venture-backed startups.
- Fundraising trigger: Usually need to start raising when runway < 6-9 months.
Magic Number
revenueSaaS Magic Number
A measure of sales and marketing efficiency.
(Current Q Revenue - Previous Q Revenue) * 4 / Previous Q Sales & Marketing Spend- > 1.0: Efficient growth. Pour more fuel on the fire.
- < 0.7: Inefficient. Fix the funnel before spending more.
Churn Rate
retentionCustomer Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who stop using your product during a given time frame.
(Lost Customers / Total Customers at Start of Period) * 100- Silent killer: Low churn is often more important than high growth for sustainability.
- Revenue Churn vs Logo Churn: You can lose customers but grow revenue (negative churn) if upsells are strong.
NDR / NRR
retentionNet Dollar Retention
How much revenue you retain and expand from existing customers (after churn and downsells).
((Review Start Rev + Expansion - Churn - Contraction) / Start Rev) * 100- >100% is the holy grail: It means you grow even if you acquire zero new customers.
- Cohort analysis: Analyze NDR by cohort to see if older cohorts expand or shrink over time.
Repeat Purchase Rate
retentionRepeat Customer Rate
The percentage of customers who have made more than one purchase.
(Customers with > 1 Order / Total Unique Customers) * 100- E-commerce vital sign: Breaking even on first purchase is rare; profit comes from repeats.
- Window matters: Define the window carefully (e.g. repeat within 90 days).
Stickiness
retentionStickiness Ratio (DAU/MAU)
The ratio of daily active users to monthly active users, measuring how addictive a product is.
(DAU / MAU) * 100- World class: > 20% is good; > 50% is Facebook level.
- Utility drift: Only relevant for daily-use products.
Sessions per User
engagementAverage Frequency of Use
How often users open and engage with the app.
Total Sessions / Total Active Users- Habit Strength: High frequency often indicates strong habit formation.
- Natural Frequency: Don't expect daily use for a monthly utility app (e.g. Payroll).
Time Spent
engagementAverage Time Spent per User
The duration a user spends actively using the product.
Total Session Duration / Total Active Users- Quality vs Quantity: Time spent is good for media (Netflix), but bad for utility (Uber).
- Active vs Idle: Ensure you are tracking active foreground time.
Content Consumption
engagementContent Consumption
Metric tracking how much content users view, watch, or read (e.g. Minutes Watched, Articles Read).
Sum(Content Units Consumed)- Feed Health: Critical for media/social apps.
- Completion Rate: Watching 5% of a video counts as a view, but completion is a better signal of quality.
Content Engagement
engagementEngagement with Content
Interactions with content beyond passive consumption (e.g. Likes, Shares, Comments).
Sum(Likes + Comments + Shares)- Algorithm signal: These are high-value signals for recommendation algorithms.
- Share > Like: A share is usually a much stronger endorsement than a like.
Content Creation / Files Created
engagementUser Generated Content Volume
The volume of core assets created by users (e.g., Files in Figma, Boards in Pinterest, Repos in GitHub).
Count(New Core Entities Created)- Prosumer Activity: Creation is often the first step to collaboration/sharing.
- Empty states: Watch out for "Created but empty" files.
Messages Sent
engagementCommunication Volume
Total number of messages exchanged, indicating communication activity.
Count(Messages Successfully Sent)- Network Density: More messages usually means a denser, stickier network.
- Bot traffic: Exclude automated system messages.
Project Activity
engagementProject Management Activity
The level of active engagement within project management tools (e.g. Tasks moved, tickets updated).
Count(Task Updates + Comments + Transitions)- Work vs Noise: Are users just moving cards around, or actually closing them?
- Collaboration proxy: High activity implies the team is living in the tool.
Meeting Volume
engagementMeeting Activity
The number or duration of meetings hosted on the platform.
Count(Meetings with > 1 participant)- Cost metric: For internal tools, high meeting volume might be bad (inefficiency).
- Value metric: For Zoom/Teams, this is the core value unit.
Bounce Rate
engagementWebsite Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.
(Single Page Sessions / Total Sessions) * 100- Content relevance: High bounce rate often means the landing page didn't match the ad promise.
- Exceptions: Single-page apps (SPAs) or simple informational queries might have naturally high bounce rates.
Cart Abandonment
engagementCart Abandonment Rate
The percentage of shoppers who add items to their cart but leave without completing the purchase.
((Initiated Carts - Completed Transactions) / Initiated Carts) * 100- Friction point: Often caused by surprise costs (shipping, tax) at checkout.
- Retargeting: Primary trigger for abandoned cart emails.
NPS
generalNet Promoter Score
A sentiment metric that measures customer loyalty.
% Promoters (9-10) - % Detractors (0-6)- Sentiment vs Reality: Users may say they love you (high NPS) but still churn.
- Use strictly as a pulse check, not a root cause diagnostic tool.
Conversion Rate
generalFunnel Conversion Rate
The percentage of users who move from one stage of a funnel to the next (e.g., Visitor -> Signup, or Signup -> Paid).
(Users entering Stage B / Users entering Stage A) * 100- Micro-conversions: Don't just track the final sale; track each step to find the friction.
- Local maxima: optimizing one step (e.g. clicks) might hut the next down stream retention.
Resolution Time
generalAverage Resolution Time
The average time taken to resolve an issue or complete a task (e.g., Jira issue, Customer support ticket).
Average(Resolved Date - Created Date)- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Long resolution times kill CSAT.
- SLA Breaches: Track % of tickets resolved within SLA, not just average.
Cycle Time
generalDevelopment Cycle Time
The time elapsed between starting work on a task and finishing it.
Average(Completion Timestamp - Start Timestamp)- Flow efficiency: High cycle time often indicates blocking dependencies or context switching.
- Predictability: Stable cycle time is better than fast but erratic cycle time.
User Efficiency
generalUser Workflow Efficiency
Metrics indicating how quickly users get value (e.g. Time to Task Completion).
Average(Time to Complete Core Action)- Friction hunting: Use this to identify UX hurdles.
- Learning curve: Efficiency should improve as user tenure increases.
Supply Liquidity
generalMarketplace Supply Liquidity
The percentage of listings or service providers that are available and result in a transaction.
(Transactions / Active Listings) * 100- Marketplace Health: High liquidity means buyers always find what they want.
- Cold start: Hardest metric to move in a new marketplace.
NSM
generalNorth Star Metric
The single metric that best captures the core value your product delivers to its customers.
Context Dependent (Unique to each product)- Not Revenue: Revenue is a lagging indicator of value. The North Star should reflect value received.
- Focus alignment: It serves to align the entire company towards a singular product goal.
Adoption Rate
growthFeature Adoption Rate
The percentage of eligible users who use a specific feature (e.g. TikiNOW, Apple Pay, Dark Mode).
(Users of Feature / Total Eligible Users) * 100- Discovery vs Utility: Low adoption could mean they can't find it (Discovery) or they don't need it (Utility).
- Depth: Adoption is binary; also track frequency/depth of use.
TTV
growthTime to Value
The time it takes for a new user to realize the expected value from the product (Activation).
Average(Activation Timestamp - Signup Timestamp)- Onboarding velocity: Faster TTV usually leads to higher retention.
- Complex products: For B2B, TTV might be measured in weeks; for B2C, in minutes.
DAP / MAP
growthDaily/Monthly Active People
A user-centric variation of DAU used by Facebook/Meta to count unique physical people (not just accounts).
Count(Unique Physical Humans Active)- De-duplication: Requires advanced identity matching to link devices/accounts.
- Family Metrics: Used to aggregate usage across a family of apps (FB, Insta, WhatsApp).
Resurrection Rate
retentionUser Resurrection Rate
The percentage of dormant users who return to the app after a significant period of inactivity.
(Resurrected Users / Total Dormant Users) * 100- Win-back: Measures the effectiveness of re-engagement campaigns (email, push).
- Cheaper than new: Resurrecting a user is often cheaper than acquiring a completely new one.
Fulfillment Rate
generalFulfillment Rate
The percentage of customer orders or service requests that are successfully completed/delivered.
(Completed Orders / Total Orders Placed) * 100- Marketplace Trust: Low fulfillment kills trust on the demand side.
- Supply issue: Often indicates lack of supply liquidity or operational failures.
Streak
engagementUser Streak Length
The number of consecutive days/weeks a user has performed a core action.
Count(Consecutive Active Periods)- Gamification: The most powerful retention mechanic in EdTech (Duolingo) and Health.
- Loss Aversion: Users return just to "save the streak".
KYC Success Rate
generalKYC Pass Rate
The percentage of users who successfully complete the Know Your Customer (identity verification) process.
(Verified Users / Total KYC Attempts) * 100- Funnel Blocker: KYC is the biggest drop-off point in Fintech onboarding.
- Fraud balance: Too easy = fraud; Too hard = lost users.
Items per Basket
revenueItems Per Basket (UPT)
The average number of individual items purchased in a single transaction.
Total Items Sold / Total Transactions- Bundling proxy: High UPT usually means successful cross-selling.
- Inventory efficiency: Helps move more SKUs per logistics cost unit.
Unit Sales
revenueUnit Sales
The total number of physical or digital units sold.
Count(Items Sold)- Hardware North Star: For Apple/Tesla, units sold is the primary measure of scale.
- Install Base: Units sold accumulates into Active Installed Base.
Lessons Completed
engagementLessons Completed
The volume of educational units successfully finished by learners.
Count(Completed Lessons)- Value metric: For EdTech, this is the core value exchange.
- Paywall trigger: Often used as a limit before requiring payment.
Online Hours
growthProvider Online Hours
The total duration that service providers (drivers, doctors) are available to accept work.
Sum(Time Available Online)- Supply Capacity: The raw capacity of a service marketplace.
- Peak vs Off-peak: Utilization rate is Online Hours / Busy Hours.
Health Logs
engagementActivities/Meals Logged
The frequency of users manually entering health data (food, workout, symptom).
Count(User Logs)- Active Input: Requires high effort; indicators of high intent.
- Retention: Logging is usually the primary habit loop in health apps.