The Retention Architecture: 3 Layers Most Teams Skip
Retention is a product architecture, not a campaign: habitual triggers, value reinforcement, early-churn interception, and the evidence each layer works.
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AI Did Not Lower Your CAC. It Hid Where It Is Rising.
AI bidding did not lower your CAC. Blended reporting hides where it is rising. How founders can see their channel economics again.
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Teardown: Canva’s Onboarding Had One Job
Canva’s onboarding had one job: get a non-designer to make something. Why onboarding is a growth loop only when the thing it produces gets seen.
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First-party data: the build order most companies get backwards
Most companies build first-party data in the wrong order. What to collect at each stage, and what to refuse until a decision needs it.
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If the answer isn’t marketing, what are you allowed to change?
Most founders hire fractional marketing leaders on seniority. One question before you sign reveals what they can actually change.
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The Growth System Diagnostic: The Worksheet
A six-dimension worksheet for scoring your growth system honestly. Your real score is not your average. It is your weakest dimension plus twenty.
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LTV:CAC Is the Most Abused Number in Your Deck
LTV:CAC is two forecasts divided by each other. A healthy ratio hides cohort decay and blended CAC. Run payback by cohort instead.
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The Unit Economics Audit: 3 Numbers That Tell You If Scaling Kills You
LTV:CAC won’t tell you if scaling is safe. Three numbers will: CAC payback, contribution margin per cohort, LTV curve shape. Run the audit first.
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Teardown: why copying Shopee’s playbook would bankrupt your startup
Shopee’s subsidies were a capital strategy, not a growth strategy. Copying the giants’ playbook without their balance sheet will bankrupt your startup.
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Onboarding Completion vs Activation Rate: One Diagram, Two Metrics
Onboarding ends at setup. Activation ends at first value. One diagram showing the two metrics, why they diverge, and which one predicts retention.
