Pre-Launch Analytics for Solo Builders: The 15 Events You Should Instrument Before You Ship

If you’re building solo, analytics isn’t a “later” feature—it’s how you avoid building the wrong thing at full speed.

At BlueVioletApps, the goal is simple: instrument just enough to learn fast without drowning in dashboards.

Here’s a practical event set you can implement before launch so your first users teach you what to fix.

Step 1: Define your activation moment (one sentence)

Activation is the first time a user gets real value. Examples:

• completes onboarding + creates first project

• connects an account

• finishes first workflow Pick one. Everything else supports it.

Step 2: Instrument the “15-event starter pack”

You don’t need 200 events. Start here:

Acquisition & setup

1. app_install

2. first_open

3. sign_up_started

4. sign_up_completed

5. login_success

Onboarding 6. onboarding_started 7. onboarding_step_completed (with step_name) 8. onboarding_completed 9. permission_prompt_shown (notifications/location/etc.) 10. permission_granted / permission_denied

Core value 11. activation_event_completed (your definition) 12. core_action_completed (with action_type) 13. error_shown (with error_code/context)

Retention signals 14. session_start 15. push_opened (or email_opened if web)

Keep properties minimal: device, plan, source, step_name, action_type.

Step 3: Build two funnels (only two)

• Onboarding funnel: first_open → sign_up_completed → onboarding_completed → activation_event_completed

• Value funnel: activation_event_completed → core_action_completed (repeat) → day-7 return

Step 4: Decide what you’ll do when metrics are “bad”

Analytics is useless without actions. Define:

• If onboarding completion < X% → shorten steps, reduce permissions

• If activation < X% → improve first-run guidance, default templates

• If errors spike → fix top 3 before adding features