Essay · 12 min read

Why retention is so hard for new tech products

Andrew Chen Free Advanced

Drawn from studying thousands of products, Chen argues you cannot bolt retention on later with notifications or tweaks; it comes from the core product solving a real, recurring need. It is a sobering counterweight if you are hoping onboarding polish alone will fix a curve that keeps falling to zero. Read it to be honest with yourself about which side of your own question you are actually on.

  • Retention is mostly set by the core product, not surface fixes
  • Notifications and emails do not rescue a fundamentally weak curve
  • A curve that never flattens signals a need you have not found
Open on andrewchen.substack.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. My MVP works but nobody sticks around after signing up. How do I diagnose whether it's a product problem or an onboarding problem?

Read with it

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  2. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  3. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
  4. If you would rather hear the thinking than read it, this is Rahul Vohra on Lenny's Podcast talking through the same... Lenny's Podcast Podcast Superhuman's secret to success: ignoring most customer feedback, manually onboarding every user, and positioning around one attribute | Rahul Vohra Lenny Rachitsky
  5. Once you know your curve should flatten, the next question is where it should flatten, and this piece answers it with concrete... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~10 min read What is good retention? Lenny Rachitsky
  6. Turns the vague feeling of product-market fit into a number you can move. Ask users how they would feel if they could no longer... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit Rahul Vohra
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