I’m attending the Startup 101 Metrics at Web 2.0 Expo right now. Dave McClure and Hiten Shah are giving at talk about at Web 2.0 about Startup 101 Metrics. They break down the key points in online marketing: (1) Acquisition, (2) Activation (3) Retention (4) Referral, and (5) Revenue. You can remember as AARRR, like a pirate
Below are the slides.
As you guys probably realized, I was able to get into Web 2.0. Can’t exactly say what happened, but am lucky to know some people. The atmosphere was definitely different from that of Startup School. I felt young again as everyone was older than me. I’ve learned a lot from this workshop and attached my own key notes below:
1. Acquisition
What channels? Which user? Why?
A: High Volume (#), Low Cost ($), HIgh Conv (%)
Find the channels have provide these factors. Possible channels:
- SEO/SEM - Paid search and organic
- Blogs
- Social Media/Networks
- Domain - mini-sites.
Acquisition (Keyword Vocabulary)
- Top 10-100 words
- Your Brand / Products
- Customer Needs / Benefits
- Competitor’s Brand / Products
- Semantic Equivalents
- Misspellings
Things to analyze: Sources, Volume, Cost, Conversion
Key Metrics to Track: Quantity (#), Cost ($), Conversions (%)
2. Activation
What do users do on their first visit?
Example Activation Goals:
- Click on something!
- Acount sign up / Emails
- Referrals / Tell a friend
- Widgets ? Embeds
- Low Bounce Rate
Activation Tips: Less is more, Focus on user experience / usability, Provide incentives & call to actions, Test and iterate continuously
Key Metrics to track:, Pages per visit, Time on site, Conversions (ie .sign ups)
Tools: CrazyEgg, Google Analytics
3. Retention
Retention involves getting your users to come back to your site.
Example Retention Goals:
- 1 - 3+ visits per month
- 20% open rat / 2% CTR
- High deliverability / Low spam rating
- Long customer life cycle / Low decay
- Identify fanatics and cheerleaders
Email is simple and it works
BUT make unsubscribe easy
80% subject line / 20% body text
Tools: Campign Monitor, MailChimp, TriggerMail, Litmus
4. Referral
Referral generally means viral loops, affiliates that
- Send to a Friend: Email / IM
- Social Media
- Widgets / Embeds
- Affiliates
Y = average # of people that they invited
Z = % of users who accepted an invitation
5. Revenue
- Don’t rely on Adsense
- Start Free -> Go Freemium
- Subscription / Recurring transactions
- Qualify your customers -> Lead genearation (arbitrage)
- Selling something! (physical or virtual)
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Writer: Jeff Wang. I am currently a student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Computer Science. Most posts will be dedicated to young entreprenuers.




