Activation & onboarding review

To: Onboarding Squad Subject: Where onboarding is leaking—and what to fix first

The biggest loss is before a data source is connected: only 41% of signups get that far. Another 8 percentage points drop before a first chart. Just 9% of signups invite a teammate. The strongest activation signal is the chart: week-2 retention is 62% for users who reach one, versus 11% for those who don’t. Prioritize getting people to a useful chart; treat invites as a later step.

Fixes, in priority order

1. Offer a sample-data path that reaches a real first chart. Let users skip connecting their own data and explore a preloaded dataset, with a clear route to connect later. Many signups are PMs and marketers, and the most common onboarding ticket is missing database credentials (41%). A required technical connection is an especially poor first step for them. This also gives users value while they wait for access.

1. Make connecting data simpler and recoverable. Replace or supplement the 14-page guide with short, connector-specific instructions and troubleshooting. Validate credentials early, explain the required access, and offer a clear retry path. Don’t cancel a sync when someone leaves the page; send progress and failure notices and let users resume. The credential and sync tickets point to concrete blockers, and successful connection is the gateway to the high-retention chart experience.

1. Get users to a chart with fewer decisions. Replace the database-wide table list with suggested tables and plain-language descriptions; cut the 12 dashboard templates to a few recommended starting points. Provide a prebuilt chart or guided first-chart flow rather than an empty canvas. The 8-point drop between connection and first chart, plus the sync burden, suggests too much work remains after connection.

1. Remove early friction that doesn’t create value. Test deferring email verification until after users enter the product, and move role/team questions until they can personalize something useful. These steps currently delay access before users see value.

1. Make inviting a teammate contextual, not a hurdle. Keep it optional; prompt after a user has made or shared a chart, and explain the benefit. Only 9% of signups invite someone, but chart reach—not inviting—is the clearest retention signal.

Track step conversion and time-to-first-chart by path, especially sample-data versus live connection, before expanding the changes.

To: Onboarding squad Subject: Fix access and sync before optimising chart creation

Our biggest measured loss is before data connection: 59% of signups, roughly 7,300 people, never connect a source. We ask PMs and marketers to complete a database setup that many cannot do themselves, then make a lengthy sync depend on keeping a page open.

Another 8 percentage points disappear between connection and first chart: about 20% of those who connect. Teammate invitations fall to 9% of signups, but we should establish whether collaboration is necessary for value before treating that as our next bottleneck.

First-chart users have much higher week-2 retention, 62% versus 11%. That makes chart creation a promising activation milestone, but does not prove that pushing everyone through a chart will cause better retention.

Fix in this order

1. Give users a route forward without database credentials. Offer a clearly labelled sample-data experience and make CSV upload a prominent alternative.¹ Add a setup hand-off that lets users ask a colleague to connect the source, then resume when it is ready. Replace the generic setup guide with short, source-specific instructions.

This addresses the largest measured loss and the strongest support signal: missing credentials account for 41% of onboarding tickets. That is a share of tickets, not signups, so we cannot yet quantify how much drop-off it explains. Sample data should demonstrate value while preserving a clear path to the user’s own data.

2. Make syncing durable and recoverable. Run syncs in the background so closing the page does not cancel them. Show meaningful status, explain failures and allow retries without repeating setup. Notify users when their data is ready.

A 20-minute foreground wait is a fragile requirement. Sync failures generate 18% of onboarding tickets and can waste the effort users have already invested.

3. Turn connected data into a useful first chart. Help users identify relevant tables instead of presenting every table equally. Use their chosen template to produce an editable chart from compatible data, with guided choices where mapping is needed. Do not finish template selection with an empty canvas.

This targets the roughly one in five connected users who never reach a chart. Measure whether they produce something useful, not merely whether a chart renders.

4. Remove avoidable preliminary work. Defer role and team-size questions unless their answers immediately improve setup. Review whether email verification must block exploration, retaining verification where required for account security.

These steps add friction before value, but we lack evidence that they drive the main loss.

Measure alongside delivery: instrument each screen, connection method, error and return visit. Test changes against first charts using customers’ own data, week-2 retention and trial-to-paid conversion. Track sample-data charts separately. Revisit invitations once we understand whether users need collaboration to succeed. To: Onboarding squad Subject: Fix access and sync before optimising chart creation

Our biggest measured loss is before data connection: 59% of signups, roughly 7,300 people, never connect a source. We ask PMs and marketers to complete a database setup that many cannot do themselves, then make a lengthy sync depend on keeping a page open.

Another 8 percentage points disappear between connection and first chart: about 20% of those who connect. Teammate invitations fall to 9% of signups, but we should establish whether collaboration is necessary for value before treating that as our next bottleneck.

First-chart users have much higher week-2 retention, 62% versus 11%. That makes chart creation a promising activation milestone, but does not prove that pushing everyone through a chart will cause better retention.

Fix in this order

1. Give users a route forward without database credentials. Offer a clearly labelled sample-data experience and make CSV upload a prominent alternative. Add a setup hand-off that lets users ask a colleague to connect the source, then resume when it is ready. Replace the generic setup guide with short, source-specific instructions.

This addresses the largest measured loss and the strongest support signal: missing credentials account for 41% of onboarding tickets. That is a share of tickets, not signups, so we cannot yet quantify how much drop-off it explains. Sample data should demonstrate value while preserving a clear path to the user’s own data.

2. Make syncing durable and recoverable. Run syncs in the background so closing the page does not cancel them. Show meaningful status, explain failures and allow retries without repeating setup. Notify users when their data is ready.

A 20-minute foreground wait is a fragile requirement. Sync failures generate 18% of onboarding tickets and can waste the effort users have already invested.

3. Turn connected data into a useful first chart. Help users identify relevant tables instead of presenting every table equally. Use their chosen template to produce an editable chart from compatible data, with guided choices where mapping is needed. Do not finish template selection with an empty canvas.

This targets the roughly one in five connected users who never reach a chart. Measure whether they produce something useful, not merely whether a chart renders.

4. Remove avoidable preliminary work. Defer role and team-size questions unless their answers immediately improve setup. Review whether email verification must block exploration, retaining verification where required for account security.

These steps add friction before value, but we lack evidence that they drive the main loss.

Measure alongside delivery: instrument each screen, connection method, error and return visit. Test changes against first charts using customers’ own data, week-2 retention and trial-to-paid conversion. Track sample-data charts separately. Revisit invitations once we understand whether users need collaboration to succeed.