Churn rate
Churn rate is the share of customers, or of recurring revenue, lost in a period: customers lost ÷ customers at the start. Because churn is a share of your base, it grows as you grow, so with steady acquisition a product levels off at new customers per month ÷ monthly churn. Average customer lifetime is 1 ÷ churn, which is why halving churn doubles lifetime value.
Related terms
A/B test
An experiment that shows two versions to comparable groups at random and compares how each converts, to learn whether a change caused a difference.
Activation rate
The share of new sign-ups who reach the moment they first get real value from a product, such as creating a first project.
Customer lifetime value (LTV)
What a customer is worth over their whole relationship with you, usually as gross margin: monthly revenue × margin ÷ monthly churn.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A loyalty score from −100 to +100: the share of promoters (9–10 on “how likely are you to recommend us?”) minus the share of detractors (0–6).
RICE scoring
A prioritization method from Intercom: Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort, so ideas can be compared on one scale.
Assumption
A belief a solution depends on. If it turns out to be wrong, the solution fails — so the risky ones are worth testing first.