Quick Answer (TL;DR)
Time to Value (TTV) measures time from signup to first value realization. The formula is Median time from signup to key action. Industry benchmarks: Minutes to hours ideally. Track this metric when optimizing onboarding speed.
What Is Time to Value (TTV)?
Time from signup to first value realization. This is one of the core metrics in the activation metrics category and is essential for any product team serious about data-driven decision making.
Time to Value (TTV) sits at the critical junction between acquisition and long-term value. A user who signs up but never activates is a wasted acquisition dollar. Tracking this metric reveals whether your onboarding experience is successfully converting new signups into engaged users.
Understanding time to value (ttv) in context --- alongside related metrics --- gives you a more complete picture than tracking it in isolation. Use it as part of a balanced metrics dashboard.
The Formula
Median time from signup to key action
How to Calculate It
Apply the formula Median time from signup to key action using data from a consistent time period. Pull the values from your analytics platform or data warehouse, compute the result, and compare against the benchmarks below.
Benchmarks
Minutes to hours ideally
Benchmarks vary significantly by industry, company stage, business model, and customer segment. Use these ranges as starting points and calibrate to your own historical data over 2-3 quarters. Your trend matters more than any absolute number --- consistent improvement is the goal.
When to Track Time to Value (TTV)
When optimizing onboarding speed. Specifically, prioritize this metric when:
You are building or reviewing your metrics dashboard and need activation indicators
Leadership or investors ask about activation performance
You suspect a change in product, pricing, or go-to-market strategy has affected this area
You are running experiments that could impact time to value (ttv)
You need a quantitative baseline before making a strategic decision
How to Improve
Reduce time to value. Every additional step between signup and the first value moment reduces completion. Ruthlessly cut unnecessary fields, screens, and decisions from the early experience.
Define and optimize for your aha moment. Analyze which early actions correlate with long-term retention, then design the onboarding flow to guide every user to that action as quickly as possible.
Personalize the first experience. Segment new users by role, use case, or company size and tailor the onboarding path accordingly. Personalized onboarding converts 2-3x better than generic flows.
Common Pitfalls
Using averages instead of medians. Time-based metrics are often skewed by outliers. A few extremely slow cases can inflate the average and mask the typical experience. Use medians for a more accurate picture.
Defining activation too loosely. If your activation criteria are too easy to meet, the metric inflates without reflecting genuine value delivery. Tie activation to actions that predict long-term retention.
Measuring without acting. Tracking this metric is only valuable if you have a process for reviewing it regularly and a playbook for responding when it moves outside acceptable ranges.
Related Metrics
Activation Rate --- percentage of signups who complete a key action
Time to First Key Action --- time until a user performs the core product action
Onboarding Completion Rate --- percentage of users who finish the onboarding flow
Setup Completion Rate --- percentage of users who complete account setup
Product Metrics Cheat Sheet --- complete reference of 100+ metrics