The Hierarchy of Engagement
by Sarah Tavel • General Partner at Benchmark at Benchmark
Sarah Tavel is a General Partner at Benchmark, investing in consumer and marketplace startups. Previously, she was the first Product Manager at Pinterest, where she led the discovery team, and she is known for her deep operational expertise in scaling network effect businesses.
🎙️ Episode Context
Sarah Tavel breaks down two definitive frameworks for building enduring companies: the Hierarchy of Engagement for consumer apps and the Hierarchy of Marketplaces. She challenges common industry fixations on vanity metrics like MAU and raw GMV, arguing instead for a focus on "Core Actions" and "Happy GMV" to ensure long-term retention and market dominance.
Problem It Solves
Prevents teams from optimizing for vanity metrics (like downloads or MAU) that don't lead to long-term product-market fit.
Framework Overview
A three-level framework to gauge the quality of growth. It starts with completing the core action, moves to retention through accruing benefits, and culminates in virtuous loops where usage fuels further growth.
🧠 Framework Structure
Level 1: Grow engaged users who compl...
Level 2: Retain users by ensuring the...
Level 3: Self-perpetuating loops wher...
Ensure the Core Action is the North S...
When to Use
When defining your North Star Metric or debugging high churn despite high acquisition numbers.
Common Mistakes
Confusing 'Active Users' (opening the app) with 'Engaged Users' (doing the core action).
Real World Example
Pinterest realized 'Pinning' was their core action, not clicking or following. Evernote creates retention because the more notes you store, the harder it is to leave (mounting loss).
If a user isn't doing this [core action], they're not really a user to the product. That's why the MAU thing doesn't really mean anything.
— Sarah Tavel