Growth

Mindset

Growth at Char is product-led. We don't cold-call people. We build something great, make it easy to try, and let the product speak for itself.

North Star

Active user = a user who creates a summary after transcribing at least 5 minutes of meeting audio.

Operationally (with current analytics), this means:

• $stt_request with $stt_duration >= 300 seconds
• followed by note_enhanced

note_enhanced is our current summary-creation proxy event. See Analytics for event/property definitions.

This is the core value loop we care about, not downloads or signups alone.

Principles

Reduce friction everywhere — Every step of the user journey should be scrutinized for unnecessary friction. Can someone get value from Char in under 5 minutes? If not, something is broken.

Awareness → Acquisition → Activation → Retention — These aren't separate departments. They're a unified flow that every team member should understand. Growth touches everything.

Bottoms-up adoption — End users advocate for the product inside their companies. The best way into organizations is through individuals who love it and champion it internally.

Measure what matters — Focus on activation and retention over vanity metrics. A thousand active daily users who love the product beats a million downloads that churn. See Analytics for exactly what we track today.

Metrics That Matter

1) Activation

• Activation rate (7d): % of new users who become active within 7 days.
• Time to activation: median time from first real usage to first active event.

2) Retention

• W1/W4 retention: % of users who are still active in week 1 and week 4.
• Active user frequency: active days per user per week.

3) Growth funnel

• Website to install intent: download_clicked
• Install to first use: show_main_window → session_started
• Use to value: session_started + $stt_request >= 300s → note_enhanced

4) Revenue linkage

• Activation to paid intent: active user → upgrade_clicked / trial_started
• Trial outcome quality: trial_started, trial_skipped, trial_failed

Leading vs. lagging signals

• Leading signals: hero_section_viewed, download_clicked, onboarding progress
• Value signals: $stt_request duration + note_enhanced
• Lagging signals: W4 retention, trial-to-paid conversion

We optimize leading signals only if they improve value and retention downstream.

Cadence

• Weekly: funnel review (drop-off by step and platform)
• Bi-weekly: activation and retention deep dive
• Monthly: bets review (what moved active users, what did not)

Cross-functional

Growth is everyone's job. Engineers should think about onboarding friction. Designers should think about first-run experience. Marketers should think about what happens after someone lands on the website. The user journey is one continuous thread.