AARRR Framework

AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) is a framework for organizing growth metrics around the five stages of a customer's relationship with a product.

Coined by investor Dave McClure and nicknamed "pirate metrics" for the acronym's sound, AARRR's real contribution isn't the specific five words — it's forcing teams to look past acquisition alone. A lot of growth teams over-invest in the top of the funnel (acquisition) while under-investing in activation and retention, even though fixing a leaky activation step is often cheaper than acquiring more users to pour into the same leaky funnel.

In practice, most teams adapt the framework loosely rather than following it rigidly — plenty of modern growth teams fold referral into acquisition, or treat activation and the first retention milestone as effectively the same event.