In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page are joined by Alexander Hupfer, founder of Fusion Metrics and a solo Shopify app developer. Alexander shares his journey from selling (almost zero) COVID masks to building an analytics platform for Shopify apps. 

The conversation digs deep into the current state of Shopify app analytics following Mantle's shutdown, why certain metrics are far more subjective than they appear, and how AI agents are changing the way developers query their own data.

*Sponsor*
The Support Heroes - https://www.thesupportheroes.com/?utm_source=liquid_weekly&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=sponsorships

*STAY CONNECTED*
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*EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS*
* Alexander's Origin Story: From selling COVID masks during the pandemic (banned by Facebook after three days) to discovering Shopify apps and teaching himself GraphQL from a book.
* Why Shopify Doesn't Build This: Alexander's take on the ROI question and why revenue analytics for app devs isn't a priority for Shopify.
* The Mantle Shutdown: How the analytics landscape shifted, what drove Mantle's dominance (affiliate program, built-in email), and where things stand now.
* Metrics That Aren't Black and White: A deep dive into MRR reconstruction from the Partner API event stream, and why churn and LTV are far more complex than they seem.
* Installs as a Vanity Metric: How install counts weakly influence search ranking and why they become meaningless post-revenue.
* AI Agents + Analytics: Using MCP servers and agents like Claude Code and Codex to write SQL queries against source tables and pinpoint issues in onboarding.
* Build vs. Buy vs. Self-Host: Alexander's new two-tier FusionMetrics (hosted or self-hosted with source included) and the tradeoffs of each approach.

*ABOUT ALEXANDER HUPFER*
Alexander is the founder of Fusion Metrics, an analytics platform built specifically for Shopify apps, and runs several small Shopify apps of his own. Coming from a theoretical physics background, he moved into the analytics space in 2022 and pioneered install attribution by linking Google Analytics events with Partner API data. He's a solo developer (the entire "Fusion Metrics team") and also acquires and operates Shopify apps.

*FIND ALEXANDER ONLINE & RESOURCES*
* Fusion Metrics: https://fusionmetrics.com/
* Alexander's Twitter/X: https://x.com/alexanderhupfer
* PartnerMetrics by Björn Forsberg (open source): https://github.com/forsbergplustwo/partner-metrics
* Matt De Sousa / Blair (ex-Mantle) conversation on attribution: https://orange-aphid-848.notion.site/Live-with-Blair-Beckwith-Shopify-Mantle-Growth-the-Future-of-Shopify-Apps-3c15075fb6d680a5bd14d8ec230430e4
* Alexander's talk from last year's Mantle event on churn modeling: https://youtu.be/9g7N7VdHfWU?si=48yb1k9xM6sb9VwX

*TIMESTAMPS*
00:00 - Cold open: The mask-selling business
00:30 - Introduction & the bat/rabies saga
02:20 - Alexander's origin story: COVID masks to Shopify apps
06:42 - Moving into analytics & the physics background
11:03 - Current state of Shopify app metrics & the Mantle shutdown
13:49 - Why Shopify doesn't provide revenue analytics (the ROI question)
16:43 - The Dev Dashboard revamp & transaction vs. MRR
21:57 - Reconstructing MRR from the Partner API event stream
25:11 - Installs as a vanity metric & search ranking
27:28 - Churn and LTV: the most complicated metrics
34:11 - App acquisition & assessing performance objectively
36:40 - The three Rs: Acquisition, Retention, Revenue
37:06 - Attribution & app store conversion rates
38:28 - Using AI agents & MCP to query analytics
43:01 - GA4 attribution on the App Store vs. storefront
45:31 - App Store optimization & keyword-stuffed titles
48:17 - Build vs. Buy vs. Self-Host
53:17 - Picks of the Week
56:35 - Dev Changelog

*DEV CHANGELOG*
* Oxygen is now available on development stores https://shopify.dev/changelog/oxygen-is-now-available-on-development-stores
* WebMCP support for Liquid and Hydrogen storefronts https://shopify.dev/changelog/webmcp-liquid-hydrogen
* Standard storefront events and actions now support cart attributes https://shopify.dev/changelog/events-and-actions-cart-attributes-support
* Hydrogen developer preview update: August 18, 2026 https://shopify.dev/changelog/hydrogen-developer-preview-update-august-18-2026
* App intents on admin.app.intent.link now open as a full-page navigation https://shopify.dev/changelog/app-intents-on-admin-app-intent-link-now-open-as-a-full-page-navigation 

*PICKS OF THE WEEK*
* Karl: "Star City" on Apple TV — a sister show to "For All Mankind" exploring an alternate history where Russia reached the moon first
* Alexander: "The Capitalist Manifesto" by Johan Norberg
* Taylor: "Project Hail Mary" (the movie) — looking forward to reading the book next