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What should we track?

What should we track?“The orders table. It already knows who paid.”Riley Novak, The Minimalist

💡 WHY RILEY IS RIGHT

The most reliable analytics already exists: the tables written by the code that charges cards, creates accounts and sends invoices. They are tested, backed up and cannot be ad-blocked. Client-side events are a second, weaker copy of the same reality, with bugs of their own. Start with SQL on the data you already own, and add tracking only for behavior the database genuinely cannot see, like where people hesitate.

✅ RIGHT WHEN

The questions are about outcomes: signups, payments, retention, churn.

🚩 TOO FAR WHEN

Someone asks where users get stuck, and the answer is another count of orders.

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