Subscription Stories: True Tales from the Trenches Kurbo’s Joanna Strober on a Digital Program to Make Kids Healthier
“Our goal is to teach forever habits.” Joanna Strober has reimagined the youth weight loss industry through her wellness program, Kurbo. Tune in to hear Joanna talk with Robbie about the role of a human coach in a digital program, how to communicate with both parents and kids, and instilling habits in customers for the long term.
Highlights from this episode:
7:00 – Joanna talks about what triggers people to enroll in subscriptions and what motivates people to make subscription a habit
9:52 – Robbie and Joanna talk about the 7 key areas of competence in a subscription business, and about why WW is more passionate about their subscription mission than their subscription product
16:40 – Joanna talks about Kurbo’s FOREVER PROMISE
17:24 – Kurbo’s “reverse freemium” model, and the power of breaking the mold when it comes to adopting a subscription model
19:50 — Robbie and Joanna talk about customer success, its importance, and what it looks like
23:50 – Joanna explains why human connection is essential and hints at Kurbo’s “Secret Sauce”
27:00 – Weathering negative social media storms
34:40 – The challenges of the launch, scale, and lead phases of growing a business
37:00 – Joanna gives advice to entrepreneurs who want to start a business in THE MEMBERSHIP ECONOMY and investors who want to fund a business in THE MEMBERSHIP ECONOMY
39:22 – Joanna gives advice to smaller companies undergoing acquisition by a larger company
40:20 – Robbie’s speed round
Joanna’s Bio:
Joanna Strober is an entrepreneur and investor who founded Kurbo, the first digital weight loss platform for kids. Joanna grew Kurbo into a subscription business so successful that it caught the interest of WW (Weight Watchers reimagined), one of the biggest names in wellness. She is currently the CEO of Kurbo and a Senior Vice President at WW. Before diving into the weight loss industry, Joanna was Senior Managing Director at Sterling Stamos, and co-authored Getting to 50/50. Joanna earned a Bachelor’s Degree from University of Pennsylvania and a JD from UCLA school of Law.