Growth · week 34

Signups are up eighteen per cent and retention is down three points

Both of those are the same story, and the story is Saturday. Prepared for the Monday review.

Period 18–24 August 2026 Source warehouse, events.signup Compared with week 33

Headline

Signups
1,204
▲ 18.4% on week 33
Activated within 24h
318
▲ 6.1% on week 33
Week-2 retention
41%
▼ 3.0 points on week 33

Signups by day

Hover a bar for the exact number. The dotted line is the week-33 average.

18–24 August This week Peak
300 225 150 75 0 wk 33 avg · 103 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Saturday is the peak for the third week running.

The Saturday effect is probably the Friday newsletter

The newsletter goes out at 16:00 on Friday and Saturday has been the peak for three weeks. If that is the cause, moving the send to Thursday should move the peak with it — which is a one-week test, not a project. Worth doing before we spend anything on acquisition.

Where they came from

Activation is measured within twenty-four hours of signup.

SourceSignupsActivatedRate
Newsletter41214736%
Organic search3388625%
Referral2716123%
Direct1832413%

What I would decide on Monday

  1. Move the newsletter to Thursday for one week. If the peak moves with it we have found the lever. If it does not, Saturday is something about the audience and worth understanding rather than optimising.
  2. Look at direct traffic before spending on acquisition. It is a fifth of the volume and converts at 13%, which is the cheapest gap on this page.
  3. Do not celebrate the eighteen per cent yet. Retention slipped three points while signups climbed, and activation held — so people are leaving after the first session, not during it. That is a product question, not a growth one.