1. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
How do I Analytics?
a practical guide for
pragmatic startups
2. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Hi, I’m Andy!
@andyy
#fb
PhotobyDanTaylor-dan@heisenbergmedia.com
3. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Wait what, why?
Analytics?
4. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
What do we measure, and why?
Vanity metrics
Revenue metrics
Conversion rate metrics
Pirate metrics..
We need to know how we’re doing.
5. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
If you're not keeping score
there's no point playing the game -
you'll never know if you're
winning or not
- @distrodom
6. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Today’s tools make it
super-easy to track
things
Google Analytics
Mixpanel
Localytics
KissMetrics
Branch Metrics..
7. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Today’s tools make it
super-easy to track
things
BUT they also make it really easy to
- become overwhelmed with data
- focus on the wrong things
8. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Typical analytics challenges/pitfalls
Drowning in too much data
Failure to select + focus on the top metrics that
matter
Not tracking the data you need to answer key
questions
9. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Why analytics?
1. How are we doing?
- are KPIs on the right track?
2. What are the results of our experiments?
- so we can learn
3. What’s happening right now?
- did something great or terrible just happen?
10. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
How are we doing?
11. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
How’re we doing?
1. Identify top-level KPI
12. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Identify top-level KPI
it’s hard.
13. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Identify top-level KPI
if you pick the wrong KPIs, you're screwed.
If you pick KPIs and then ignore them, you're
screwed.
If you pick and monitor KPIs diligently, but don't
assess everything you and your whole team does
on the basis of whether your tasks are the most
effective way to grow your KPIs, you're screwed.
15. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
16. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
Spoiler alert..
Ultimately it’s $$$
17. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
NOT revenue (that’s an output)
Traction KPI leads directly to revenue
18. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
The one metric that - if it’s not growing -
there’s only so long we can go kidding ourselves
we’re making any progress
19. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
Keep it simple!
There’s probably a
pre-determined answer
for how to measure your growth
20. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
Commerce: # sales
Subscription / SaaS: # subscribers
Marketplace: # transactions
21. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
22. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
2. Next, add NUANCE
23. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
Nuance metrics: help understand
the full picture behind your Traction KPI
E.g. for commerce:
Traction KPI: # sales
Nuance: average sale $; # customers
24. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
2. Next, add NUANCE
3. Add DRIVERS
25. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
DRIVERS: the things we
actually work on to grow
26. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
DRIVERS: the things we
actually work on to grow
E.g. for marketplaces:
Traction KPI: # transactions
Drivers: # suppliers, # customers
27. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
DRIVERS: the things we
actually work on to grow
E.g. for commerce:
Traction KPI: # sales
Drivers: # new customers, # repeat
28. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
DRIVERS: the things we
actually work on to grow
E.g. for SaaS:
Traction KPI: # subscribers
Drivers: # new customers, # retained
29. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
2. Next, add NUANCE
3. Add DRIVERS
4. Add FUNNEL for each driver & loop
30. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Building a Growth Model
1. Identify your traction KPI
2. Next, add NUANCE
3. Add DRIVERS
4. Add FUNNEL for each driver & loop
end up with AARRR..
31. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Growth Model Spreadsheet
32. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Growth Model Spreadsheet
• Review weekly - zoom out vs. zoom in
• Share with whole team
• Use to predict and prioritise
• What to look at daily vs. weekly vs.
monthly
http://bit.ly/kpi-sheet
33. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Weekly/Monthly reporting
% week-on-week or month-on-month growth
in your
One Metric That Matters
Focus. Set a target.
How to choose? Read this Lean Analytics post
34. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Let’s see some
examples..
38. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Other key metrics
CAC, LTV, churn
39. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Other key metrics
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
how much you spend (on average) to acquire a
customer
Lifetime Value (LTV)
How much revenue $$ an average customer
brings you in all time
40. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
If your
LTV
is greater than your
CAC
then you’re in business
41. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
If your
LTV
is greater than 3x your
CAC
then you’re in a good business
42. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
CAC & LTV: nuances
Payback period: time to recoup CAC
Magnitude of your numbers
e.g. enterprise vs. social
43. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Calculating CAC
Simple approach: total spend / total signups
“50% of the money I spend on advertising
is wasted - the problem is
I don't know which half”
- John Wanamaker
Eventual goal: calculate CAC per channel
44. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Calculating LTV
Problem!
You don’t have a lifetime of data
Measured LTV vs. estimated LTV
Measure actual LTV per cohort
Extrapolate revenue curve over time
45. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Calculating LTV
Know your definitions!
MRR?! GMV?!
A16Z blog posts:
16 Startup Metrics & 16 MOAR Startup Metrics
46. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Analysing your data
50. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
How not to do Metrics
Outdated information
Just 1 view of your data
Manual calculations
Bad metrics lead you astray
51. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Growth Accounting
wha..?
52. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Growth Accounting
53. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Growth Accounting
54. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Cohort analysis?
57. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Getting the Datas
58. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Collecting data
Don’t use Google Analytics!
59. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Don’t use Google Analytics!
It’s the wrong type of tool for most key
questions.
Designed around sessions & pageviews
Instead: focus on unique users and key actions
Specific user journeys are not that important
Instead: what % of unique users
reached a particular step eventually?
Collecting data
60. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Collecting data
Use an analytics tool focused on tracking
events/actions
and
individual user behaviour
e.g. Mixpanel, Localytics, Amplitude
61. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Collecting data
Events vs. Properties vs. People
Events: something happened
Properties: something about what just happened
People: connect events to particular users
(people can also have properties)
63. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
What to Track
All key user behaviours
● pages/screens viewed, key actions taken
● anything that writes a new row or updates an
existing row in your database or user’s session store
○ e.g. add to cart, post new content
● do you have all key steps in the user funnel?
● anything that has external impact, e.g. share
64. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking events
Tip #1: Choose easy-to-read and meaningful
event names
Short!
Pick a convention; stick to it
Omit superfluous words
“user_viewed_homepage”
“Viewed homepage”
68. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tip #2: Track each user based on a distinct ID
Don’t use email address -
use autogenerated user_id from your own DB
Use aliasing to connect up events tracked
pre/post signup
Tracking events
69. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tip #3: Annotate your users with source data
referrer; utm tags; install tracking via AppsFlyer
1. Track a signup event
2. Add as user properties
3. Potentially also as properties to key events
Tracking events
70. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tip #4: (Mixpanel specific) - People vs. Events
Mixpanel won’t let you query for users
who did particular events
So, our options:
- Do this using your own DB
- Annotate your users (People) with properties
for each key event
Tracking events
71. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tip #5: Ecommerce/revenue tracking
Mixpanel/AppBoy etc have
native support for tracking revenue
Annotate your Purchase events with revenue data
using the relevant properties for each platform
Tracking events
72. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tip #6: Use a development project for testing
Tracking events
73. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Track events from where?
Client/app vs. server
Tracking events
74. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking the funnel
75. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking the funnel
Start with the pirate metrics AARRR
Top of funnel: acquisition; signups/installs
Mid funnel: post-install events; engagement;
retention
Bottom of funnel: purchase / monetisation.
76. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking the funnel
Looking at each stage (AARRR) in aggregate
is a good start
but it will only get you so far
the “truth” is much more nuanced
77. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking the funnel
Users acquired via different channels
will have different behaviours
Different cohorts will have
different experiences of your product
Different users will have been exposed to
different A/B tests
78. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking the funnel
Key: these are all properties of your users
UTM tags: source, medium, campaign, terms
Landing page
Signup time
A/B test buckets
Referrer
Viral source
79. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Tracking the funnel
Annotate your users in your database/analytics
system with these attributes
UTM tags: source, medium, campaign, terms
Landing page
Signup time
A/B test buckets
Referrer
Viral source
80. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Let’s get Technical..
81. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Implementing Tracking
Use a
Tag Manager
(e.g. Google Tag Manager)
Check out
Segment.com
for flexibility & agility
82. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
www.sitehound.co
- Free code! -
83. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Implementing Tracking
Add your
Facebook + Google
Custom Audience /
Remarketing Pixels
Now!
Start building your audience
84. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Analytics = Knowledge
85. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Knowledge = power
confidence
sanity
87. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
● A16Z: 16 Startup Metrics - and 16 MOAR
● Lean Analytics Book - Choosing your OMTM
● Josh Elman - The only metric that matters
● Dave McClure's Startup Metrics for Pirates
● Eric Ries’s Three Engines of Growth
● Mark Suster - Why misunderstanding startup
metrics can cost you your business
● Intercom - SaaS metrics for fundraising
● Social Capital - Accounting for User Growth
● Sarah Tavel: Engagement Hierarchy-Core Actions
Further references..