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analytics skill

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This skill helps you set up analytics, define key metrics, and instrument your SaaS for data-driven decisions across funnels and data quality.

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---
name: analytics
description: "Use this skill when the user needs to set up analytics, design event tracking, define key metrics, build funnels, or instrument their SaaS product for data-driven decisions. Covers event naming conventions, tracking strategy, funnel analytics, and data quality."
---

# Analytics & Instrumentation

Track decisions, not dashboards. This skill helps you set up analytics that answer the questions that matter — without drowning in data.

## Core Principles

- Every metric should connect to an action you'd take differently based on the result.
- Instrument events at build time, not as an afterthought. It's 10x easier.
- More data ≠ better decisions. Focus on 5-10 key metrics per stage.
- Data quality matters more than data quantity. One clean funnel beats fifty broken ones.

---

## Choosing an Analytics Tool

You don't need to write code to track events. Pick a tool, add the snippet, and configure in the UI.

### Recommended by Stage

| Stage | Tool | Why | Cost |
|-------|------|-----|------|
| Pre-revenue | **PostHog** | Product analytics, funnels, session replay. Built for SaaS. | Free (1M events/mo) |
| Pre-revenue | **Plausible** | Simple, privacy-first traffic analytics. | $9/mo |
| $0-5K MRR | **PostHog** or **Mixpanel** | Deeper funnel analysis, cohort retention | Free tier or ~$200/mo |
| $5K+ MRR | **Amplitude** or **Heap** | Advanced analytics, experimentation | $500+/mo |

**Recommendation for solo founders:** Start with **PostHog** (free tier). It covers product analytics, funnels, session recordings, and feature flags — all things you'll need.

For basic traffic analytics (where visitors come from), add **Plausible** or **Google Analytics 4** (free).

### Setup

**Tell AI:**
```
Set up PostHog analytics:
1. Create a PostHog project and get the API key
2. Add the PostHog JavaScript snippet to our app (in the <head> or layout component)
3. Verify it's tracking page views by checking the PostHog dashboard
4. Configure: exclude admin/test accounts from tracking
```

---

## What to Track (By Stage)

### Pre-Launch (Just These 3)
1. Landing page visits (traffic source)
2. Waitlist/signup conversions
3. Where visitors drop off

### 0-$1K MRR (Add These)
4. Signup → activation rate (completed key action)
5. Time to activate (hours from signup to key action)
6. D7 retention (% returning after 1 week)
7. Free-to-paid conversion

### $1K-$10K MRR (Add These)
8. Feature adoption (% of users using each feature weekly)
9. Cohort retention curves (track each month's signups over time)
10. Expansion revenue triggers (what behavior precedes upgrades)
11. Churn rate and reasons

---

## Event Naming Conventions

Use a consistent schema so events make sense to anyone reading them.

**Format:** [Object] [Action] in past tense, Title Case.

| Event Name | When It Fires |
|------------|--------------|
| Signup Form Submitted | User completes registration |
| Project Created | User creates their first/any project |
| Dashboard Viewed | User visits the main dashboard |
| Report Exported | User downloads or shares a report |
| Subscription Upgraded | User moves to a higher plan |
| Invite Sent | User invites a teammate |

**Rules:**
- Object first, then action (makes grouping in tools easier)
- Past tense (the event already happened)
- Be specific: "Signup Form Submitted" not "Form Submitted"
- Never include personal data in the event name

### Event Properties

Every event should include context:

```
"Project Created"
  template_used: "blank" | "marketing" | "engineering"
  source: "dashboard" | "onboarding" | "api"

"Subscription Upgraded"
  from_plan: "free"
  to_plan: "pro"
  billing_period: "annual"
  trigger: "usage_limit" | "feature_gate" | "self_serve"
```

**Tell AI:**
```
Set up event tracking for our core funnel:
- Track these events: [list your key events from the table above]
- Include these properties with each event: [relevant properties]
- Set user-level properties on identify: plan, signup_date, role
- Verify events are firing correctly in PostHog/Mixpanel
```

---

## Core Metrics Framework

### The 5 Metrics That Matter

| Metric | What It Tells You | How to Calculate |
|--------|------------------|-----------------|
| **Signup rate** | Is your marketing working? | Visitors → Signups |
| **Activation rate** | Is your onboarding working? | Signups → Completed key action |
| **D7 retention** | Does your product deliver ongoing value? | % of users returning 7 days later |
| **Free-to-paid** | Is your product worth paying for? | Free users → Paying users |
| **MRR** | Is your business growing? | Sum of all monthly subscription revenue |

### Setting Up Your Dashboard

**Tell AI:**
```
Create an analytics dashboard with these 5 charts:
1. Daily signups (line chart, last 30 days, by source)
2. Activation rate (% of signups who [completed key action], last 30 days)
3. D7 retention (% of each week's signups who returned 7 days later)
4. Free-to-paid conversion rate (last 30 days)
5. MRR (line chart, all time)

This should be the first thing I see when I open analytics.
```

---

## Funnel Instrumentation

Define your core funnel and track every step:

```
Typical SaaS funnel:
  1. Landing Page Viewed
  2. Signup Form Viewed
  3. Signup Form Submitted
  4. Onboarding Started
  5. [Key Activation Action] Completed
  6. Second Session (returned next day/week)
  7. Upgrade Page Viewed
  8. Subscription Created
```

**The biggest drop-off between steps = your biggest opportunity.** Fix that first.

**Tell AI:**
```
Instrument our conversion funnel:
- Track these events in order: [list your funnel steps]
- Build a funnel visualization showing drop-off between each step
- Set up an alert if any step's conversion drops below [X]% week-over-week
```

---

## Privacy and Compliance

Add these before you launch:

- [ ] Add analytics tool reference to your Privacy Policy
- [ ] Add cookie consent banner if required (depends on tool and geography)
- [ ] Enable "anonymize IP" in your analytics tool
- [ ] Exclude admin/test accounts from tracking
- [ ] Never track PII (email, name) in event properties without consent
- [ ] Allow users to opt out of tracking
- [ ] Respect Do Not Track (DNT) browser settings

**Tell AI:**
```
Add privacy compliance for analytics:
- Add a cookie consent banner that loads analytics only after consent
- Exclude users with DNT enabled
- Add an "opt out of tracking" toggle in account settings
- Ensure no PII is sent in event properties
```

---

## Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| Tracking everything from day one | Start with 5 metrics. Add more when you have questions they can't answer. |
| No analytics until post-launch | Add the snippet during build. Track from first user. |
| Dashboard but no actions | Every metric should have an "if this drops, I'll do X" response |
| Ignoring data quality | Check that events are firing correctly once a week for the first month |
| Paying for expensive tools too early | PostHog free tier handles most needs until $5K MRR |

---

## If You Can't Set Up Analytics Right Now

Track these manually in a spreadsheet until you can:

| Week | Signups | Activated | Retained (D7) | Paid | MRR |
|------|---------|-----------|---------------|------|-----|
| Week 1 | | | | | |
| Week 2 | | | | | |

Even rough manual tracking beats flying blind. Graduate to a real tool as soon as you can.

Overview

This skill helps founders set up pragmatic analytics and instrumentation for SaaS products so teams make data-driven decisions without drowning in noise. It focuses on actionable metrics, consistent event naming, funnel tracking, and data quality practices that scale from pre-launch to paid growth. Use it to design tracking, choose tools, and build dashboards that answer business questions.

How this skill works

I guide you to pick the right analytics tools by stage, add tracking snippets, and define a minimal set of events and properties to instrument at build time. The skill enforces a naming convention and event property schema, sets up core funnels and dashboards, and includes privacy and data-quality checks. It also provides step-by-step tracking and verification tasks you can hand to engineers or apply with low-code tools.

When to use it

Setting up analytics during initial build or before launch
Designing event taxonomy and properties for your product
Building core funnels and a first dashboard of KPIs
Monitoring data quality and verifying events are firing
Preparing analytics for paid growth or experimentation

Best practices

Track decisions, not dashboards—each metric must map to an action
Instrument events at build time; aim for 5–10 core metrics per stage
Use Object Action past-tense naming (e.g., "Project Created") and include context properties
Exclude admin/test accounts, anonymize IPs, and never send PII without consent
Verify events weekly during the first month and set alerts for funnel drops

Example use cases

Pre-launch: track landing visits, waitlist signups, and drop-off points
0–$1K MRR: add activation rate, time-to-activate, and D7 retention
$1K–$10K MRR: track feature adoption, cohort retention curves, and expansion triggers
Build a funnel from Landing Page Viewed → Signup → Activation → Subscription Created and alert on major drop-offs
Create a 5-chart dashboard: daily signups, activation rate, D7 retention, free-to-paid rate, and MRR

FAQ

Which analytics tool should I start with as a solo founder?

Start with PostHog (free tier) for product funnels, session replay, and feature flags; add Plausible or GA4 for simple traffic sources if needed.

How many events should I track initially?

Begin with 5–10 key events that map to your core funnel and activation metric. Add more only when you have questions those events cannot answer.