It seems like there are a million different ways to say the same thing: early on focus on retention.

You can get this from your data at sufficient scale. You can get it from surveys like NPS. You can get it from talking to customers.

One problem I have with the word "growth" is that it implies top level acquisition. A better definition would be hitting your goals. If you want to grow your retained userbase, then getting top level acquisition isn't actually hitting your goal.