Cohort analysis

Group customers by acquisition period to compare behaviour patterns and identify which acquisition channels and time periods produce the best long-term value.

Cohort analysis

Cohort analysis

definition

Introduction

Why it matters

How to apply it

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Growth orchestration

Get a grip on what's actually working and what needs course correction. Use data and experiments to make decisions instead of opinions. See how changes in one part of the system affect everything else. Random tactics don't compound, coordinated ones do.

Explore playbooks

Tool selection

Tool selection

Select tools across your growth stack using clear evaluation criteria. Avoid common pitfalls, ensure integrations work, and build a system that scales with your business.

Customer research

Customer research

Uncover specific pain points, validate assumptions, and reveal what actually drives buying decisions. Run research that produces actionable insights, not just interesting quotes.

Quarterly strategy

Quarterly strategy

Run quarterly business reviews that assess current state, set ambitious but realistic goals, build actionable roadmaps, and define key results that keep everyone aligned.

Monthly review

Monthly review

Analyse monthly performance data across all four growth engines. Identify what is working, what is not, and make tactical adjustments using a structured decision framework.

Related books

Hacking growth

Sean Ellis

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Hacking growth

A practical framework for experiments and insights. Build loops, run tests and adopt a cadence that ships learning every week.

Traction

Gino Wickman

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Traction

A practical operating system for small teams. Install a cadence, set priorities and create accountability that sticks.

Lean Startup

Eric Ries

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Lean Startup

A disciplined approach to experiments. Define hypotheses, design MVPs and learn before you scale.

Lean Analytics

Alistair Croll

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Lean Analytics

Pick the One Metric that Matters for your stage. Build lean dashboards and use data to decide the next best move.

Related chapters

5

How to run quarterly business reviews

Deep strategic reset with full performance analysis. Identify system-level bottlenecks, validate strategy, and set the next roadmap.

5

How to set up compound growth

Install tracking infrastructure that shows which metrics drive revenue. Build your scorecard and launch your first cycle with the right foundation.

Wiki

Constraint

Identify and leverage limitations as forcing functions that drive creative problem-solving and strategic focus.

First-touch attribution

Credit the channel that introduced prospects to your brand to measure awareness efforts and understand which top-of-funnel activities start customer journeys.

Email sequence

Automate multi-touch email campaigns that adapt based on recipient behaviour to nurture leads consistently without manual follow-up from reps or marketers.

Inbound Marketing

Attract prospects through valuable content that solves real problems, building trust and generating qualified leads who approach you.

Growth engine

Build self-reinforcing systems across demand generation, funnel conversion, sales pipeline, and customer value that create continuous momentum.

Product-market fit

Achieve the state where your product solves a genuine, urgent problem for a defined market that's willing to pay and actively pulling your solution in.

API

Enable tools to exchange data programmatically so you can build custom integrations and automate processes that vendor-built integrations don't support.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Track revenue growth from existing customers through expansion and contraction to prove your product delivers increasing value over time.

Sales-led growth

Win customers through direct sales conversations where reps guide prospects from discovery to close with personalised solutions and relationship building.

Growth plateau

Diagnose and break through stagnation by identifying which business mechanisms have reached capacity and require new approaches.

Drip campaign

Send a series of scheduled emails that educate prospects over time to stay top-of-mind without overwhelming them with aggressive sales pitches.

Control group

Maintain an unchanged version in experiments to isolate the impact of your changes and prove causation rather than correlation with external factors.

Stakeholder Management

Navigate competing priorities and secure buy-in by systematically understanding, influencing, and aligning internal decision-makers toward shared goals.

Pirate metrics

Track your user journey through Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue to identify which stage constrains growth most.

Event tracking

Capture specific user actions in your product or website to understand behaviour patterns and measure whether changes improve outcomes or create friction.

Braindump

Clear mental clutter by transferring all thoughts, tasks, and ideas onto paper or screen, creating space for focused work.

Growth lever

Focus resources on high-impact business mechanisms where small improvements generate disproportionate results across the entire customer journey.

Data warehouse

Store raw data from all business systems in one place to run analyses and build reports that combine information across marketing, sales, and product.

Sales tech stack

Assemble tools that manage pipeline, automate outreach, and track performance to help reps sell more efficiently and managers forecast accurately.

Product-led growth

Drive acquisition and expansion through product experience where users discover value before sales conversations and upgrade based on usage.