We advocate for a two-phase analytics journey that balances budgetary constraints with ambitious goals, ensuring reliability without excessive expenditure.
The first phase focuses on achieving clarity quickly. By leveraging Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with server-side event tracking, we establish a robust foundation for reliable data collection and a functional funnel analysis. This initial step allows founders to validate key performance indicators and identify early conversion bottlenecks without significant resource investment.
As the business evolves and analytical needs expand, we transition to the second phase for confidence at scale. Events are streamed to BigQuery, where they are refined using dbt to create clean, tested data models covering users, accounts, sessions, and conversions. This approach unlocks advanced capabilities such as cohort analysis, revenue forecasting, and product-specific insights that exceed the limitations of pre-built dashboards.
The effectiveness of this strategy lies in its cost-efficiency and simplicity. Storage costs remain low, transformations are managed through version-controlled processes, and dashboards reflect accurate data rather than approximations. This sophisticated yet accessible setup empowers teams to derive meaningful insights without the burden of enterprise-level complexity.