2/ One of the first business axioms I remember learning is that it is cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. In an era defined by unlimited consumer choice and dynamic consumer preference, this statement rings truer than ever.
3/ If retention is the currency (@2PMinc / @tracewall) of this new consumer era, the outperformers over the next decade will be the ones who invest that scarce resource to feed a flywheel of growth that favors deeper relationships over more relationships.
4/ Another way to describe this depth > mass appeal approach to growth is "clustering" which I came across recently in this great piece from @digitallynativ.
5/ Within this context, I expect that the best consumer subscription companies will start to resemble Enterprise SaaS companies & a material portion of growth (the most efficient growth) will come from negative churn.
Obviously, there is a lower limit on "seats" when it comes to consumers but both companies have used family packages to charge higher prices over time and drive stronger retention by engaging more users.
9/ Cross Sell - Peloton 🚴♀️
Selling a treadmill existing bike owners (or just digital-only members more likely to buy a tread than a bike) or launching physical studios and exposing users to the in person experience.
My favorite fantasy M&A scenario. The Gimlet buy hinted at a move towards exclusivity & Calm provides differentiated value that consumers will pay more for (given that 2m of them already subscribe!)
End/ I was in the process of writing a blog post called "The Negative Churn Consumer SaaS Company" when I came across this report (released today I believe) and realized a thread might be more efficient.
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Half-baked thinking out loud thread on "Apple's Organ Monopoly" and why we're at the Fitbit in 2010 stage of understanding device usage...and thus understanding mental fitness (and capturing value in that market) more generally.
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Our phones already essentially function as human organs.
The shrinking "half life of technology intimacy" means this will accelerate...
As the transition from device to organ continues— meaning deep integration with other physical and mental processes and capabilities — some metric around device usage will become a critical biomarker, on par with things like heart rate variability and glycemic response.
The best “Rise of Company X” deep dives take an analytical perspective and go beyond linear narrative to look at strategic trade offs, competitive dynamics, culture, and mistakes.
I’m sure there a ton I’m missing. What else should I add to the list?
2/ Then, when behavior shifts radically (as it has recently), companies like Lululemon can drive increased loyalty via “Responsive Tooling” – vertical integration, digital touch points, focus – to adjust incentives and operations in real-time to deliver on brand promises.
The Metaverse concept extends well beyond the gaming context it is most associated with.
Take consumer health — the future is persistent (passive monitoring), synchronous (expert/peer access), emergent, interoperable (public/private, data, etc.) w/ a functional digital economy.
A proto-Metaverse consumer health example:
Taking a live Peloton ride & talking w/ fellow riders on Discord (via AirPods) while monitoring Whoop to ensure you hit optimal “Strain Score” (calculated based on “Recovery”).
Seems a lot but is actually quite straightforward today.
Over time, we move from expensive, remote, high friction health experiences with personal biometric data siloes that force one size fits all “content” to a more immersive, collaborative, personalized, accessible Metaverse of Health (which is part of the the broader Metaverse).
1/ Lizhi (IPO this week) provides a great look at the future of Interactive Audio.
You might think of it as "Anchor.fm of China" because both are UGC audio platforms but Lizhi is much larger with a deeper set of product features & revenue streams.
Quick thread 👇
2/ Lizhi is the largest UGC audio community in China, owning 70% of the Interactive Audio Entertainment market — a subset of the broader audio market that incorporates interactive social, gaming, & live streaming. Well beyond how many think of podcasting or audio books today.
3/ Lizhi has a strong Creator Flywheel & is trending positively on many "Passion Economy" metrics (h/t @ljin18)
• 5.9m MAU creators who are also consumers
• Increasing paid user ratio Q/Q
• AI-driven discovery & engagement
• Social features drive intra-audience interaction