Activation Rate
The share of new users or accounts that reach the first meaningful milestone showing they got initial value from the product.
The fork, why two teams get different numbers
The entire metric hinges on what "activated" means, and there is no standard event. Definitions range from shallow (verified email, created a project) to deep (invited a teammate, completed a core workflow, crossed an "aha" usage threshold). Product picks the event that best predicts retention; growth gravitates to the one that moves most easily. Two more forks: account-level activation (at least one activated user in the account) versus user-level, and activation measured against signups versus against paying conversion. Because it defines the top of every downstream funnel, whoever owns the definition owns the funnel.
The trap
Redefining the activation event silently re-bases every metric downstream of it, moving "activated" from teammate-invited to email-verified can double activation overnight with zero product change, and quietly inflate trial-to-paid if that rate is computed off the activated base.
- The full trap, worked on a real export
- Every formula variant, spelled out
- The reconciliation anchor, what to tie it to and when to refuse
Reference: SaaS / PLG operating-metric convention (no single standards body)