funnel framework
AARRR Pirate Metrics: The Startup Growth Funnel
AARRR, or Pirate Metrics, is a metric-first growth funnel built for startups: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue. Each letter is a number to instrument and improve, which makes it less a marketing model than a measurement framework for the whole business.
Where it comes from
Created by Dave McClure of 500 Startups in 2007, AARRR became the default growth model for product-led and startup teams, pronounced like a pirate, hence the nickname.
The stages
- Acquisition. Users arrive from a channel.
- Activation. They reach a first good experience.
- Retention. They come back.
- Referral. They bring others.
- Revenue. They pay.
When to use it
Reach for AARRR in product-led and startup contexts where the same team owns acquisition through monetization and the product itself is the funnel. Its strength is forcing a single metric onto each stage.
How it maps to the marketinque funnel
AARRR weights the post-sale half the way our lifecycle silo does: activation is the onboard stage, retention is retain, and referral is advocate. It folds positioning and nurture into acquisition, which suits self-serve motions more than committee-driven B2B sales.
Related frameworks
Made with marketinque