Stage 3 — Grow

Analytics setup

The 5 events that matter and how to set them up in one session.

AI skill: /analytics-setup
  1. 01

    Install the minimum stack

    Vercel Analytics (pageviews, one-line install) + PostHog (product events, free up to 1M events/month). Add Sentry for error tracking when you have real traffic. Don't install more tools than you check weekly.

  2. 02

    Track exactly 5 events

    user_signed_up, [core_action]_completed (your activation event), subscription_started, [core_action]_repeated, subscription_cancelled. These five give you activation rate, conversion rate, retention, and churn.

    Tip: More events = less signal. Track these five first. Add more only when you're checking these weekly and want to go deeper.
  3. 03

    PostHog setup (Next.js)

    pnpm add posthog-js. Initialize in your root layout or providers. Identify users after auth. Use posthog-node for server-side events (Stripe webhooks). Total setup time: ~1 hour.

  4. 04

    Revenue in Stripe Dashboard

    You don't need custom analytics for revenue until $10k MRR. Stripe Dashboard gives you MRR, churn rate, and ARPU for free. Check it weekly alongside PostHog.

  5. 05

    The weekly 15-minute review

    Every Monday: (1) Did activation rate go up or down? (2) What did activated users do differently? (3) Did anyone pay who I didn't expect? Answer these three questions — everything else is noise at this stage.

Use this in your AI agent

Every step above is baked into the /analytics-setup agent skill. Install shipping-skills and type /analytics-setup to run the full playbook interactively for your product.