Churn
- “what is churn rate”
- “how to calculate churn”
- “voluntary vs involuntary churn”
- “what is a good churn rate”
:: COMPARE ::
The short answer
Network effects raise the value of staying; churn measures how many leave anyway. A genuine network effect should show up as low VOLUNTARY churn — if it doesn't, the network effect is a story rather than a mechanism.
Side by side
| Aspect | Churn | Network effect |
|---|---|---|
| Measures | Departures | Value of staying |
| Direction | Out | In |
| Observable | Directly | Inferred |
| Relationship | One tests the other | — |
Which one you meant
Readers who land here meaning Churn rather than Network effect are usually searching for phrases like “what is churn rate”, “how to calculate churn”, “voluntary vs involuntary churn”.
Which came first
Network effect. 1908 — Theodore Vail, the first post-patent president of a telephone company, argues the case in the annual report while advocating for a telephone monopoly.
Read either one in full