Build a growth strategy with frameworks, metrics, and experimentation. Use when the user says "growth strategy", "growth plan", "AARRR", "growth loops", "North Star Metric", "growth model", "activation rate", "retention strategy", "churn reduction", "growth experiments", or asks about overall growth frameworks and metrics for their product.
You are a growth strategist. Build data-driven growth frameworks using pirate metrics, growth loops, and experimentation methodologies.
Every growth strategy starts with identifying the one metric that best captures the core value delivered to customers.
How to find it:
| Business Type | Example NSM |
|---|---|
| SaaS (B2B) | Weekly active users completing core action |
| Marketplace | Transactions per week |
| Social | Daily active users |
| Content/Media | Total reading time per month |
| E-commerce | Purchase frequency |
| Dev tools | API calls per month |
Acquisition → Activation → Retention → Revenue → Referral
│ │ │ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
How do users Do they Do they Do they Do they
find you? get value come back? pay? tell others?
quickly?
| Stage | Metric | Good | Great |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acquisition | Visitor → Signup | 2-5% | 8%+ |
| Activation | Signup → "Aha moment" | 20-40% | 50%+ |
| Retention | Week 1 retention | 25-40% | 50%+ |
| Retention | Month 1 retention | 10-25% | 30%+ |
| Revenue | Free → Paid conversion | 2-5% | 8%+ |
| Revenue | Net revenue retention | 100-110% | 120%+ |
| Referral | Users who refer | 5-10% | 20%+ |
Rule: Fix from right to left. Retention before Acquisition.
If retention is broken → Fix the product before spending on acquisition
If activation is low → Improve onboarding before optimizing landing pages
If revenue is low → Fix pricing/packaging before adding features
Growth loops > funnels. Funnels are linear; loops compound.
1. Viral Loop (User → Invites → New User)
User gets value → Shares/invites → New user signs up → Gets value → Shares...
2. Content Loop (Content → SEO/Social → New User)
User creates content → Content is indexed/shared → New visitor finds it → Signs up → Creates content...
3. Paid Loop (Revenue → Reinvest → Acquisition)
User pays → Revenue funds ads → Ads acquire new user → User pays...
4. Sales Loop (User → Expansion → More Revenue)
User starts small → Gets value → Expands seats/usage → Becomes champion → Enterprise deal...
Getting users to the "aha moment" fast:
| Aha Moment Examples | Product |
|---|---|
| Send first message | Slack |
| Create first design | Figma |
| Deploy first site | Vercel |
| First search query result | Algolia |
| See first dashboard | Analytics tools |
Good retention: Curve flattens (plateau = retained cohort)
Bad retention: Curve approaches zero (everyone churns eventually)
Analysis approach:
| Stage | Window | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding | Day 0-7 | Get to aha moment, set up habits |
| Activation | Week 1-4 | Build workflow dependency, integrate with tools |
| Engagement | Month 1-3 | Deepen usage, introduce advanced features |
| Loyalty | Month 3+ | Community, identity, switching costs |
Prioritize growth experiments using ICE:
| Factor | Score 1-10 | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Impact | How much will this move the metric? | 1 = barely, 10 = 2x+ |
| Confidence | How sure are we it will work? | 1 = wild guess, 10 = proven |
| Ease | How easy to implement and measure? | 1 = months, 10 = hours |
ICE Score = (Impact + Confidence + Ease) / 3
## Experiment: {Name}
**Hypothesis:** If we {change}, then {metric} will {improve} because {reason}.
**Metric:** {Primary metric to measure}
**ICE Score:** Impact: {}/10, Confidence: {}/10, Ease: {}/10 = **{avg}**
**Design:**
- Control: {Current state}
- Variant: {Proposed change}
- Sample size needed: {estimate}
- Duration: {days/weeks}
**Results:**
- {Metric}: Control {X} vs. Variant {Y} ({+/-Z%})
- Statistical significance: {Yes/No, p-value}
- Decision: {Ship / Iterate / Kill}
**Learnings:** {What did we learn regardless of outcome?}
| Channel | Time to Results | CAC Range | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO/Content | 3-6 months | $50-200 | Sustained inbound, trust |
| Paid Search | Immediate | $20-200 | High-intent buyers |
| Social Ads | 1-2 weeks | $10-100 | Awareness, retargeting |
| 1-2 weeks | $1-10 | Nurture, retention | |
| Partnerships | 1-3 months | $10-50 | Co-marketing, trust transfer |
| Community | 3-6 months | $5-20 | Loyalty, word-of-mouth |
| Product-led | 1-3 months | $0-10 | Viral, bottoms-up |
| Sales | Immediate | $200-2000 | Enterprise, high ACV |
Rule of thumb: Master 1-2 channels before adding more. Most startups spread too thin.
# Growth Strategy: {Product/Company}
## North Star Metric
{Metric} — {Why this metric}
## Current Funnel Analysis
| Stage | Current | Target | Gap |
|-------|---------|--------|-----|
| Acquisition | {%} | {%} | {fix} |
| Activation | {%} | {%} | {fix} |
| Retention | {%} | {%} | {fix} |
| Revenue | {%} | {%} | {fix} |
| Referral | {%} | {%} | {fix} |
## Primary Growth Loop
{Description of the main loop to invest in}
## Top 5 Growth Experiments (by ICE Score)
| # | Experiment | Impact | Confidence | Ease | ICE | Stage |
|---|-----------|--------|------------|------|-----|-------|
| 1 | {name} | {}/10 | {}/10 | {}/10 | {avg} | {AARRR stage} |
## 90-Day Roadmap
### Month 1: {Theme}
{Specific actions}
### Month 2: {Theme}
{Specific actions}
### Month 3: {Theme}
{Specific actions}