Essay · 12 min read

The Power User Curve

Andrew Chen Free Advanced

A single average retention number hides whether you have a small core of people who love the product, which is the seed you build on. This histogram approach shows you that core clearly, so you can tell a total dud from a real but narrow fit that needs better onboarding to widen. Use it when your headline retention looks flat but you suspect a few users are genuinely hooked.

  • Look at the distribution of engagement, not just an average
  • A visible power user cluster means you have something to build on
  • Different products have different healthy engagement shapes
Open on andrewchen.com ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. How do I know if I've defined my ICP too narrowly and I'm leaving obvious customers out?
  2. My MVP works but nobody sticks around after signing up. How do I diagnose whether it's a product problem or an onboarding problem?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
  3. Turns the vague feeling of product-market fit into a number you can move. Ask users how they would feel if they could no longer... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit Rahul Vohra
  4. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  5. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  6. Market size is meaningless until you know exactly who you're for, and Lenny turns that into a concrete, repeatable ICP exercise... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP) Lenny Rachitsky
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →