AARRR Framework
Most startups are focused on the wrong metrics. They obsess over Acquisition when their real problem is Activation — users show up, look around, and leave before they ever experience the product's core value.
The AARRR Framework ('Pirate Metrics') is Dave McClure's five-stage funnel model for startup growth: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue. It gives founders and growth teams a repeatable diagnostic process — identify your leakiest stage, then run targeted experiments to fix it before moving on. Unlike generic growth advice, AARRR forces a sequential funnel audit that tells you exactly where to focus and why.
“B2B SaaS. We sell project management software to small agencies. We've been running ads and our traffic is decent but revenue growth has stalled.”
Stop spending on acquisition — find and fix the stage where your startup actually leaks
AARRR maps startup growth into five sequential, measurable stages. Acquisition covers how users find you (channels, CAC). Activation measures whether users have a meaningful first experience — the 'aha moment' — within their first session. Retention tracks whether users return (DAU/MAU, cohort curves, churn). Referral measures word-of-mouth and viral mechanics (NPS, viral coefficient). Revenue captures monetization events (ARPU, LTV, conversion to paid). The core diagnostic exercise is the 'leaky bucket': calculate inter-stage conversion rates, identify the steepest drop-off, and fix that stage before investing more in earlier stages. McClure's central insight is that most startups over-invest in Acquisition while Activation rates below 10% silently destroy all the money they're spending.
Most startups die not because they can't get users, but because they can't keep them — or never activated them in the first place. The AARRR Framework addresses the chronic startup mistake of spending on Acquisition channels while Activation rates sit below 10% and month-one retention is near zero. Without a sequential funnel audit, teams optimize the wrong stage and burn budget with nothing to show for it.
Walk away with a clear diagnosis of your leakiest funnel stage, a tailored KPI set for your business model, and a prioritized experiment backlog so you know exactly what to test next — not just 'grow faster.'
- Your current metrics or best estimates for each funnel stage (even rough numbers work)
- A description of your business model (SaaS, marketplace, consumer app, e-commerce)
- A sense of which stage feels most painful right now
- Willingness to be honest about stages where you're not measuring anything yet
- A funnel conversion rate table showing where users are dropping off most severely
- A clear diagnosis of your primary leaky stage with the reasoning behind it
- A KPI definition set tailored to your specific business model for all five stages
- A prioritized list of growth experiments targeting your weakest stage
Watch the methodology work.
Three specimens from a single real session: the same situation, unaided and calibrated, the full transcript, and the skill answering live in the channel where the work happens.
“You're spending $8,000/month on Google Ads, getting 300 signups, and converting 15 to paid. Your team is debating whether to increase ad spend, try new channels, or rebuild the pricing page. Nobody has looked at what percentage of signups actually complete onboarding, and you have no idea whether users who churn in month two are different from those who stay.”
“Your funnel audit reveals a 13% Activation rate — the real leak. You pause the ad budget increase, run three onboarding experiments over six weeks, and push Activation to 28%. The same 300 signups now produce 34 paid conversions instead of 15. You have a defined KPI for each AARRR stage, a cohort retention chart showing month-by-month behavior, and a growth backlog ranked by stage priority so every sprint has a clear focus.”
The same skill, where the work happens.
No new app to learn. The methodology runs over the WhatsApp Business API, so the answer lands as a reply in the thread you’re already in — same rigour, zero context-switch.
What it does, specifically.
Each capability is a distinct move drawn straight from the source methodology — not a generic assistant guessing.
AARRR Funnel Stage Audit
A structured interview that walks through each of the five stages sequentially, surfacing your current metrics, the tools you're using to measure them, and the gaps where you're not measuring at all. The audit surfaces the full funnel picture before any diagnosis is attempted.
Leaky Bucket Diagnosis
Calculates or estimates inter-stage conversion rates and identifies the single stage with the steepest drop-off — the 'leaky bucket.' Explains why fixing this stage delivers the highest leverage before investing in earlier stages.
Stage-Specific KPI Builder
For a given business model, recommends the right metrics for each of the five stages — not generic metrics, but the specific ones that matter for SaaS recurring revenue, marketplace liquidity, consumer mobile engagement, or e-commerce repeat purchase.
Growth Experiment Backlog Generator
Once the leaky stage is diagnosed, generates a prioritized list of growth experiments targeting that specific stage — including A/B test ideas, onboarding changes, retention triggers, referral mechanics, or pricing tests depending on the stage.
Business Model Metrics Customization
Adapts the five AARRR stage definitions and their metric categories to the user's specific business model, preventing the common mistake of applying SaaS metrics to a marketplace or consumer mobile metrics to a B2B product.
Graded before it shipped.
Every skill is scored against independent scenarios for methodology fidelity before it goes live — not vibes, a rubric.
AARRR Funnel Conversion Report
A five-stage funnel table showing your current metrics, inter-stage conversion rates, and a highlighted diagnosis of the leakiest stage with the supporting rationale. The single document that anchors all growth prioritization decisions.
Stage-Specific KPI Dashboard Spec
A structured specification of 2-3 primary KPIs per AARRR stage, customized for your business model, with definitions, measurement methods, and benchmark ranges where applicable. Ready to hand to a data analyst or build in your analytics tool.
Prioritized Growth Experiment Backlog
A ranked list of growth experiments targeting your diagnosed leaky stage, with experiment type, hypothesis, success metric, and implementation complexity for each. Designed to feed directly into your sprint planning or growth meeting.
Grounded in the original work.
Every answer traces back to a real source and the practitioner who wrote it — not a secondhand summary. Here is the source of record.
Dave McClure
Dave McClure is the creator of Pirate Metrics and co-founder of 500 Startups, one of the world's most active early-stage venture funds with investments in 2,000+ companies across 75 countries. He introduced the AARRR framework in a widely-circulated 2007 SlideShare presentation that became foundational curriculum for YC, Techstars, and accelerator programs globally. His growth methodology has shaped how an entire generation of startup operators thinks about metrics.
Startup Metrics for Pirates (2007 SlideShare presentation)
Co-founder, 500 Startups (2,000+ portfolio companies, 75 countries); creator of the AARRR Pirate Metrics framework; original 2007 deck has been viewed millions of times and remains a standard reference in startup accelerator curricula.
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