Trials Started
A stronger intent signal than a raw signup — the bridge between the funnel top and paying customers.
What is it?
Trials Started is the count of trials begun in a period — a stronger signal of intent than a raw signup, because starting a trial means a prospect chose to evaluate the product in earnest.
It is the bridge between top-of-funnel signups and paying customers. Read together with trial-to-paid conversion, it tells you whether growth is coming from more people evaluating you or from more of them converting.
How to calculate?
Count the trial-started events in the period. Decide clearly what initiates a trial — entering a card, clicking 'start trial', or reaching a gated feature — and keep that definition stable so the trend stays comparable over time.
A rising trials-started count with a flat conversion rate still grows revenue, but the bigger lever is usually conversion: it is cheaper to convert more of the trials you already have than to generate new ones.