Table 16 Sept 2026From “What is cohort analysis? A stable entry event before a retention curve”

What does cohort analysis measure?

Table 1What does cohort analysis measure?

Object	Declaration	Failure when it is hidden
Unit grain	Account, user, workspace, contract, or subscription	The numerator changes from accounts to users
Entry event	Signup, paid start, contract start, activation, or renewal	Cohorts mix different lifecycle origins
Cohort composition	Eligibility, plan, region, acquisition route, and exclusions	A composition shift looks like a product trend
Cohort age	Days or months since each unit's entry	Calendar time is mistaken for lifecycle time
Outcome	Active, retained, renewed, used, or paid under a rule	A proxy is called retention without a declared endpoint
Denominator	Eligible units at entry or another declared risk set	Units are silently added or removed after entry
Maturity rule	Minimum observation age for each reported point	Immature units are counted as failed outcomes

Swipe or scroll horizontally if the table is wider than your screen.

Source: Table from this essay. Sources and interpretation are given in the article.

PNG4:3, 1600 × 1200, with the title, the source line and the attribution set in the image isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01.png

From the essay

Growth that compounds

What is cohort analysis? A stable entry event before a retention curve

Cohort analysis aligns units by a declared entry event and age. Define the cohort, outcome, maturity rule, and denominator before reading the curve.

6 Sept 2026

Read the essay

This exhibit belongs to an essay: the numbers live here, the argument lives there.

Cite or embed

APA 7

Isoglu, S. (2026). What does cohort analysis measure? [Table]. isoglu.com. https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01/

BibTeX

@misc{isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01,
  author = {Isoglu, Sinan},
  title = {{What does cohort analysis measure?}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Table 1, isoglu.com},
  url = {https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01/},
  note = {From the essay {What is cohort analysis? A stable entry event before a retention curve}}
}

Embed this exhibit

Copy this HTML to use the PNG exhibit on your site with its source line and a link back to the exhibit page.

<figure>
  <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01/">
    <img src="https://isoglu.com/social/isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01.png" alt="Table 1: What does cohort analysis measure?" width="3200" height="2400">
  </a>
  <figcaption>Table 1: What does cohort analysis measure?. Source: Table from this essay. Sources and interpretation are given in the article. <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-is-cohort-analysis-fig01/">View exhibit</a>.</figcaption>
</figure>