Black Flag Design
PowerAdvice

Pirate metrics.

A simple way to see if attention became value. The goal is not more reporting. The goal is knowing what to keep doing.
Implementation deck Black Flag Design / PowerAdvice
01The framework

Five questions. One loop.

Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral around one loop and one scorecard.
AcquisitionDid the right people show up?
ActivationDid they do something useful?
RetentionDid they come back?
RevenueDid it create sponsor value?
ReferralDid it bring the next person in?
Make it easy to explain
02How we use it

Two entry points. Same scorecard.

Entry point 01 Email

Can a newsletter click become a real action on the site?

Entry point 02 Search

Can a search visit become a repeat reader, lead, or sponsor action?

Every test runs through the loop.

Different paths. Same questions. Same readout.

AAcquire
AActivate
RReturn
RRevenue
RRefer
A test only counts when we see experiment_exposure plus one real action.
Email and search are the first clean paths
03What we measure

One number. One real event.

Acquisition
Qualified visits by source
page_viewarticle_viewchannel_view
Activation
Key action starts
newsletter_signupask_querysource_clicklead_submit
Retention
Returning engaged users
repeat page_viewrepeat article_viewanonymousId
Revenue
Sponsor-qualified actions
ad_impressionad_clicksponsored_post_viewlead_submit
Referral
Shared or referred sessions
share_clickreferral_visitutm_sourcereferrer
PostHog tells us what people did. GA4 tells us how they arrived.
04Implementation

Linear already has the work.

LONG-1010

Pirate Metrics analytics and reporting

The umbrella card. Keep it focused on measurement, not sponsor ops.

  • DefineMetric names, event names, source rules.
  • VerifyPostHog, GA4, Search Console, GAM, media, CRM.
  • BuildWeekly team view and sponsor-ready report.
  • RunOne experiment backlog, reviewed every week.
Supporting cards

Ship the scorecard.

Do not create a new system. Finish the one that is already mapped.

  • LONG-1133Ad CMS by placement. Cleaner sponsor reporting.
  • LONG-1009Newsletter subscriber sync after launch.
  • Addshare_click, referral_visit, form start, media events.
  • QABroken analytics become bugs, not meeting notes.
LONG-975GA baseline
LONG-1038Sponsor placements
LONG-1042Daily newsletter
LONG-1044Sponsored channels