Alicia Klein

For the longest time my weekly dopamine hit was watching the signups counter tick up. I thought traction meant volume.

Then we started tracking 7-day and 30-day active usage, and the reality check was brutal. We were pouring water into a leaky bucket, celebrating every new registration while users slipped away silently within 48 hours.

For founders who survived this transition: what specific metrics or milestones forced you to stop celebrating signups and actually fix your activation loop?