The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20Growth: The 7 Core Levers to Win at Consumer Subscription: Growth Loops, CAC + LTV Benchmarks, Pricing, Packaging, Notifications, Discounts, Paywalls | The Breakdown with Phil Carter

Sep 20, 2024

Phil Carter, a growth advisor and angel investor renowned for accelerating the success of companies like Faire and Quizlet, shares valuable insights on consumer subscription strategies. He discusses the seven core levers for growth, emphasizing the importance of optimizing pricing and onboarding. Phil highlights the significance of targeted metrics for user engagement and paywall design, while cautioning against common pitfalls in growth strategies. With actionable advice on enhancing customer retention, he presents a roadmap for startups navigating subscription challenges.

01:19:20

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Phil Carter

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Quick takeaways

Successful consumer subscription growth relies on tailored pricing and packaging strategies that adapt to market changes and customer needs.

Maintaining user engagement is crucial, necessitating effective onboarding processes and targeted marketing tactics to reduce churn rates.

Seasonal trends must be understood and leveraged to optimize customer retention, ensuring continuous engagement throughout the year.

Deep dives

Challenges of Consumer Subscription Apps

Consumer subscription apps are relatively easy to launch due to their ability to reach customers without needing complex sales teams and because of their high gross margins. However, they face significant challenges when it comes to scaling. Many consumer subscription apps experience high churn rates, with over 50% of their annual subscribers dropping off within the first year. As acquisition channels become saturated and subscription fatigue sets in, maintaining a sustainable customer base becomes increasingly difficult.

Passion and Learning Drive Growth Success

02:01

Balancing Growth Strategies: Iterations vs. Bold Bets

02:12

Understanding CAC and Retention in Consumer Subscriptions

03:37

Embrace Seasonality, Innovate in Downtime

02:18

Intro

3min

Navigating Growth in Tech Startups

8min

Hiring for Growth: Key Insights

6min

Navigating Growth Metrics in Subscription Businesses

14min

Navigating CAC and Subscription Challenges

10min

Engaging Users in Subscription Models

18min

Maximizing User Engagement Through Custom Onboarding

9min

Common Pitfalls in Startup Growth

7min

Innovative Growth Strategies and the Rise of Voyantis.ai

4min

Phil Carter is one of the best growth leaders of the last decade helping world-class companies like Faire, Quizlet, and Ibotta accelerate their growth. Today, Phil is a growth advisor and angel investor who helps Seed - Series C consumer subscription businesses define their growth strategy.

In Today's Episode with Phil Carter We Discuss:

The Seven Core Levers to Win at Consumer Subscription:

How to Optimize Subscription Pricing and Packaging:

Step:

Single vs multiple subs tiers?
Monthly, weekly or annually?
How often should it be revisited?
Biggest mistakes companies make with pricing and packaging?

How to deliver immediate value through new user onboarding?

Target Metrics:

Best tactics for delivering value in the shortest amount of time?
Biggest mistakes companies make in user onboarding?
Thoughts on the very long surveys companies like Noom make people fill out pre getting access to the product?

How to boost paid marketing efficiency by investing in desktop web flows?

Target Metrics:

Why is now the time to be investing in desktop workflows?
What are the most effective and specific tactics to do so?

How to optimize paywall visibility and conversion?

Target Metrics:

Why is paywall view rate so important?
What is good vs bad?
What are the most common places to trigger paywall?
Thoughts on hard paywall vs consumer value first?
Specific tactics to refine paywall design to maximize conversion?
Single biggest mistakes companies make when it comes to paywall conversion?

How to distinguish and emphasize premium value props?

Target Metrics:

What are the most effective ways to do this?
Who does it best? Lessons from them?

How to leverage motivation tactics (stats, streaks, badges, leaderboards, notifications)?

Target Metrics:

What is the most effective?
Do we not have notification overload?
What used to work but now does not work?
Who does this best? Why them?

How to leverage strategic discounts and promotions?

Target Metrics:

What are the most effective discounting methods used?
What are the biggest mistakes companies make when using promos or discounts?
Who does it best? What do they do?

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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20Growth: The 7 Core Levers to Win at Consumer Subscription: Growth Loops, CAC + LTV Benchmarks, Pricing, Packaging, Notifications, Discounts, Paywalls | The Breakdown with Phil Carter

Episode guests