Pirate Metrics, named for the pirate cry “AARRR!”, is an acronym for Dave McClure’s framework that helps teams make smarter growth decisions by focusing on five key stages of the customer journey.
McClure, an investor, growth expert, founder of multiple startups, and former advisor to PayPal and Facebook, created the model to simplify how startups (and later, scaleups) understand and optimise user behaviour.
First introduced in his talk Startup Metrics for Pirates, the framework took off because it gave teams a shared, practical language for thinking about growth – from the first click to long-term revenue. And it didn’t stay in the startup world. Big brands like Dropbox, HubSpot, and Revolut have used Pirate Metrics (AARRR) to scale efficiently and make growth decisions backed by real user insight.
The acronym breaks the customer lifecycle into five clear stages:
Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue
(Say it out loud and you’ll get the pirate reference…)
Let’s break it down – and show how it’s been used successfully.
🏴☠️ Acquisition
What it means: How people find you in the first place.
Example metrics: Website visits, sign-ups, app installs, traffic source breakdowns.
Case study: When Monzo launched, they didn’t flood the airwaves with ads. They built exclusivity into their sign-up process – people joined via waitlist or invite link. Word-of-mouth and viral growth took over, driving organic acquisition at scale without big media spend.
Why it works: Acquisition metrics help you focus your efforts. You can’t optimise what you haven’t measured.
🧭 Activation
What it means: The moment a user gets value from your product. A meaningful first experience.
Example metrics: Time to first transaction, % of users completing onboarding, Net Promoter Score after day one.
Case study: Robinhood nailed activation by offering zero-fee trading with a frictionless onboarding flow. The magic moment was placing your first trade – and the app made sure you got there quickly. They didn’t just acquire users, they activated them through smart UX and instant gratification.
Why it works: It’s not enough to get people in the door – they need to do something that brings them value.
⚓ Retention
What it means: Keeping users engaged and coming back.
Example metrics: Daily/weekly/monthly active users (DAU/WAU/MAU), churn rate, session frequency.
Case study: Revolut uses personalised notifications and gamified financial insights (e.g. “You’ve spent 25% less on Uber Eats this month”) to keep users checking the app. It’s not just about functionality – it’s about creating habits.
Why it works: Retention is the backbone of growth. If you don’t keep users, you’re pouring water into a leaky bucket.
💬 Referral
What it means: How and when your users bring in others.
Example metrics: % of users sharing referral links, conversion rate of invitees, viral coefficient.
Case study: Dropbox’s classic referral programme gave free storage to users who invited friends. It doubled sign-ups in just 30 days. Rather than paying for ads, they let happy users spread the word – and rewarded them.
Why it works: Referred users tend to be higher quality and lower cost. It’s also a sign you’ve got real product-market fit.
💰 Revenue
What it means: How your product generates income and how effectively.
Example metrics: Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV), conversion rate to paid, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User).
Case study: Moneybox nailed revenue by offering micro-investing. By rounding up everyday purchases and automatically investing the spare change, they made it effortless to contribute regularly – increasing both retention and total revenue per user.
Why it works: Revenue isn’t just about monetisation – it’s about aligning your pricing and product value so customers want to pay.
Why it matters
Pirate Metrics works because it’s simple, sticky, and universally relevant. Whether you’re a fintech launching your first product, or a pension provider reviewing your digital experience, the AARRR model helps you ask the right questions at the right time.
At BehindLogin, we use Pirate Metrics to decode competitor journeys and show where they’re strong – or leaking users. Our Research team captures thousands of user interactions across fintech apps, banking sites, and investment platforms. Then we map them against Pirate Metrics to identify what’s driving acquisition, where onboarding gets stuck, which features create daily engagement, and what triggers upgrades or drop-offs.
The result? Clients get actionable insight into the real mechanics of their competitors’ growth. And more importantly, they see how to improve their own.
Because you don’t just want the treasure map – you want to know where the gold’s buried.
