Scaling Subscription Models

Scaling a subscription-based SaaS to $1M/month. These were the 3 main pillars that actually mattered: 1. Know your target better than anyone else Instead of assuming you know your customer… Go deep on the following: - Existing creatives → Sorted ads by spend, found patterns in hooks and angles that already worked. - Customer reviews & surveys → Mined pain points, desires, objections, and specific real-life situations. - Organic content → YouTube, TikTok, Google. Looked at what already had views and engagement and repurposed those into high-quality scripts. - Competitors → Checked what their weaknesses were compared to our clients’ solution for more product aware ads. Then we turned all of that into selling blocks in Notion (pain points, benefits, objections, social proof, etc.) so every script was built from real data (want it or not). 2. Let the creatives do the targeting This may seem obvious in 2025… But still: - Defined concepts, angles, and formats (podcast-style, skits, street interviews, etc.). - Matched each angle to the right format       → e.g. time-saving angle in a podcast debate, comparison angle in a skit, etc.     - Each format matched to a different awareness level. - Delayed the product presentation to later in the ad (one of our stealth creative traits) - Built a system to test 100+ ads/month with high quality, AND DIVERSITY. Result: We found a winning podcast ad & another skit conversations scaled it, then kept adding new winners to fight fatigue and open up new “clusters” of buyers. 3. Keep media buying simple in order to scale Here’s what we focused on: - Broad targeting → Let Meta find the right people. - Simple campaigns → One main structure, CBO, each ad set = one concept. - Clear inputs & goals →   - Goal: $1M/month while keeping LTV:CAC healthy   - Inputs: 100+ ads/month, 4+ landing pages tested/month, monthly pricing tests, product/offer tweaks. - Optimize on business results, not just in-platform metrics       → If the business KPI was above target, we increased budget 10–20%.   → If it was below, we reduced or waited, based on the last 3 days.     Simple structure = more resources to focus on what actually matters: creatives, landing pages, pricing, product.

I've been quiet about this for months, but it's time to share. After 8 years running pure ecommerce brands, we've completely pivoted our business model: every product we launch now has subscription component. Not because subscriptions are trendy. But because economics are undeniable. Here's what happened when we added a $27/month subscription option to a beauty brand selling a one-time $59 product (with proper funnel in place too): -Customer Acquisition Cost remained identical -Average first-order value increased by 14% -Customer Lifetime Value jumped by 40% -Retention rate at 49% after 6 months The difference between struggling and thriving in ecommerce often comes down to unit economics. When your LTV is 1.5X your CAC, you're barely surviving. When your LTV is 4X your CPA, you can outspend any competitor. Subscriptions change the entire psychology of your marketing. When you sell one-time product or have sh*t funnel with sh*t upsells you need to convince customers to buy again and again. When you sell subscriptions you only need to convince them once. Then inertia works in your favor. Most brands approach subscriptions completely wrong. They treat them as a minor addition to their business, not a fundamental shift in their model. Our approach: We design products specifically to create ongoing value. Every new product must answer: "Why would someone continue using this month after month?" The first 14 days are also critical. We've built a 9-touch onboarding process that drives initial product usage and builds habit formation. We've built systems that track customer usage patterns and send timely reminders when they should be seeing results or need to reorder. Each subscriber receives exclusive content tied to subscription journey - improving results and creating deeper brand connection. Before each renewal, customers receive a preview of what's coming next and how it builds on their current results. Results: Our retention rates are now 2.7X industry average, and our CAC payback period decreased from 62 days to 32 days. Successful DTC brands of the next decade won't be selling products. They'll be selling ongoing transformations, delivered through physical products. If you're still focused solely on one-time purchases, you're building a business model that's increasingly difficult to sustain. The shift isn't easy. But it's necessary. And not making shift is harder in the long run.

Subscription commerce failed in India for a decade. Now it's working. Why? I remember 2016. Every other pitch deck had "subscription box" on it. Fab Bag, beauty boxes, meal kits - everyone wanted to build India’s Dollar Shave Club. By 2020, most were gone. My Ayurveda brand tried too, even with 6–9 month purchase cycles, it didn’t work. Cut to today, a very different picture.I recently spoke to 3 founders running subscription businesses. All launched post-2022. All profitable. One doing ₹50-1000 Cr+ ARR with 65% retention at month 6. That got my attention. So I spent the last few days digging into why it's suddenly working. Why did FAB BAG, Doctalk, Doodhwala, Otipy fail but today's winners are killing it? The answer came down to two words: UPI AutoPay. The successes: → Kuku FM: >12 M+ paying subscribers for regional audio-video content (our first investment at @V3 Ventures India) → Country Delight: Daily milk delivery via subscription, does ₹600+ Cr in revenue → Wholsum Foods (Slurrp Farm and Mille): Kids nutrition products on weekly/bi-weekly subscription. Parents don't want surprises, they want the same healthy millet cookies delivered automatically. Aisha is a big customer → Licious: Meat subscription component growing fast. You pick your cuts, they deliver weekly What changed? 1. UPI solved the payment problem: 131 billion UPI transactions in 2023. Auto-debit on UPI is now seamless. It had a lot of friction in the past. This has led to what one founder told me: "COD customers churn at 40%. UPI auto-debit customers churn at 12%. Payment method is the business model." 2. Q-Com also proved daily delivery is possible: When Zepto can deliver groceries in 10 minutes, milk every morning doesn’t sound crazy anymore. Cold chain, reliability, last-mile ops - all the boring things finally clicked. 3. Model Shift: Replenishment > Discovery, Subscription in India isn't about trying new things. It's about auto-delivering stuff you already buy by removing friction & making customers loyal. Indians now buy the same atta, same milk brand, same baby food every week. Subscriptions just automate what we'd do anyway - with a small discount as incentive. So, what works is obvious now Category: Consumables (milk, eggs, baby food, meat)  Frequency: Weekly/bi-weekly (monthly too long)  Discount: 5-15% ( like Country Delight’s early-bird plans)  Flexibility: Easy skip/cancel (trust builder)  Payment: UPI auto-debit (not COD) After a decade of failed experiments, subscription commerce has finally found its moment in India and it looks nothing like the US playbook. The brands that understand this will build annuity businesses in categories everyone else is fighting for one transaction at a time. The question: there’s been talk of consumers forgetting their upi auto pay subscriptions. Will this be regulated/some friction be added?

Most companies try to scale by sprinting after new buyers and wonder why their churn spikes. I give them the Sustainable Growth Framework instead. Three focus areas. Total alignment. Real momentum. After helping subscription businesses grow and retain their members, I’ve learned this: scaling isn’t about speed. It’s about direction. Here’s the framework that keeps your growth steady and your subscribers loyal. 1. Relationships over transactions Don’t chase one-time buyers. Build long-term trust. When you focus on relationships, you create members who stay not because they have to, but because they want to. 💡 Example: If you’re a fitness app, build habits with your members. Send progress updates, celebrate milestones, and personalize recommendations. Growth happens when people feel seen, not sold to. 2. Freedom over friction Don’t lock people in. Make it easy to leave or stay by choice. Subscribers value autonomy. When you respect that, they reward you with loyalty. 💡 Example: If you’re a streaming service, a clear cancel button and transparent pricing signal confidence. The trust you gain outweighs the short-term retention dip. Ease builds credibility. Credibility builds staying power. 3. Outcomes over offerings Don’t pile on features. Deliver results that matter. Your best subscribers don’t want more. They want better. Example: 💡 If you’re a learning platform, don’t add hundreds of new courses. Focus on completion rates, results, and community feedback. Outcomes drive word of mouth far more than volume ever will. The magic? Only you know who your best subscribers are. Serve them well, and growth follows naturally. Because in subscription businesses, scale isn’t about adding more. It’s about deepening what works. +++++++++++ 👋 I'm Robbie, I'm a consultant, author, and speaker covering all things subscription businesses. +++++++++++ 🛎 Tap the bell under the banner on my profile to catch the next post. ++++++++++++

Last week we changed the way we price Warp. We moved from a “fixed request” subscription model to a largely consumption-based model with a single base plan called Build.   The reason we made the change was that the fixed request subscription plans are a very poor fit for how costs actually accrue in an AI app like Warp. I hope this explanation is helpful for other AI founders and Warp’s customers. 1/ Breakage-models create mismatched incentives With fixed-request subscriptions, companies make more money on a plan the less folks use it (kind of like how gym memberships work – gyms count on the users who don’t go to subsidize the users who do – this is a “breakage” model). This model creates an economic incentive for us to have our customers use Warp less – this is in fundamental conflict with our goal of making Warp as useful as possible. 2/ Breakage models only work if you can predict utilization We initially priced our plans without fully understanding how heavily they would be utilized, subsidizing the plans for users who got close to plan limits. This felt smart when we were at a lower scale and our main question was “will users pay for Warp?” Our guess was off on average utilization, and as the product improved, users started using way more of their plans (which should have been good for us, but it wasn’t).  Then we started to grow really quickly, which as you can imagine, caused problems. 3/ Usage based billing solves these issues The better way of pricing AI-based products IMO is closer to how folks pay for infrastructure – customers pay for what they use and the app makes some margin along the way – this way we are incentivized to make AI more useful in Warp, not less. This is what we launched last week, and it will make Warp’s business much more sustainable. 4/ Switching pricing is hard, and stinks for our customers in the short-term Switching to the new model is painful for our customers who were getting the benefit of the old breakage-based fixed-request model. For our heaviest users, costs go up because now they are paying for more of what they use. If you are a Warp customer reading this, I’m sorry for the pain. We are trying to make the transition easier by offering bonuses as you transition to our new plans – you will have gotten emails about this. We are also now offering the ability to bring your own API key if you don’t want to pay Warp for AI at all (although you still will need to be on a subscription plan). Fundamentally, we had to make this change to sustain the business and I hope this explanation helps.

“We stopped chasing shiny metrics and finally started seeing brand loyalty actually pay off.” When the CMO of a global wellness brand reached out, everything looked healthy on the surface - record traffic, solid ROAS, and plenty of “growth” slides for the next board meeting. But behind the dashboard, they were bleeding retention. Customers were buying once and never returning. Subscription renewals had stalled. And every month, the team was under pressure to spend more just to stay flat. The CMO told me: “It felt like we were sprinting every quarter, only to end up back at the same revenue line.” So we took a step back and started from the ground up. 1. We rebuilt the success map. Instead of glorifying acquisition KPIs, we defined what healthy growth really meant - higher LTV, repeat orders, and engagement that compounds. It shifted the conversation from “how much can we spend?” to “how much can we sustain?” 2. We reworked the creative strategy. The old messaging screamed “Buy Now.” The new campaigns told a longer story - educating customers on outcomes, lifestyle impact, and community proof. Ads became less about discounts and more about belonging. 3. We re-engineered the post-purchase flow. Most brands forget this part. We didn’t. We built a lightweight re-engagement loop - feedback prompts, personalized content, and milestone moments that made customers feel part of something bigger. By month three, repeat purchase rate climbed 33%, refund requests dropped, and the board could finally see growth that didn’t depend on bigger budgets. The CMO said it best: “For the first time, ads didn’t just bring people in, they kept people in.” And that’s the point. Scaling isn’t about speed. It’s about staying power. ↪ If you’re expanding globally but your retention curve is flat, I’m opening a few short audit calls this month. ↪ In 15 minutes, I’ll show you where your growth engine is leaking and how to fix it before you scale further. (Link in Featured Section.)

We’re two months into 2025, and the subscription brands seeing real growth aren’t playing by 2024 rules. What’s changed? Consumer expectations. Acquisition is getting harder, retention requires more than last-minute discounts, and generic subscription models aren’t cutting it anymore. The brands thriving today are focused on value, personalization, and long-term engagement. Here’s what’s working—and what’s already outdated: 🚫 Deep discounts for acquisition → ✅ Personalized offers that attract the right customers 🚫 One-size-fits-all subscriptions → ✅ Flexible tiers and AI-driven customization 🚫 Reactive retention strategies → ✅ Proactive engagement before customers think about canceling 🚫 Manual processes & guesswork → ✅ AI and automation optimizing pricing, churn prevention, and CX Subscription growth isn’t about chasing quick wins. It’s about aligning your offer, experience, and engagement with what customers actually want. Are you adapting to the new subscription landscape, or still playing by old rules? Let’s talk in the comments. ⬇️

The 3 Paths to Scaling a DTC Brand in 2025 A lot of people ask me how I would start a brand if I was starting today. The truth is, starting a brand today is fundamentally different than 5 or 10 years ago. Cost of acquisition has 10x'ed. Competition is fierce. Tariffs are increasing. Consumers are overwhelmed by options. What worked in 2015 simply doesn't work anymore. The baseline reality: To scale profitably today, you need £150-225 one-year LTV with a £40-75 CAC. Path 1: High AOV, Low Repeat The model: First order £150+ minimum This works for premium electronics, jewellery, fitness equipment, luxury bags, travel gear - anything where the initial purchase carries the business. Examples crushing this: * ŌURA Ring / WHOOP - £250+ upfront, then monthly membership * DeMellier Challenge: To convince people to pay £150+ your product and branding needs to be top notch which requires higher starting capital. Path 2: Lower AOV, High Repeat Best for: Naturally recurring products - supplements, pet food, consumables The subscription model everyone dreams about. £40-70 AOV but customers order monthly for years. Pet food and supplements are the best examples of this. Hello Klean falls under the same category, without subscriptions, we wouldn’t have a business today. The 3 critical questions: 1. Is the market genuinely massive? 2. Is subscription natural (not forced)? 3. Can you reach £200+ one year LTV? Without all three, this path won't work. Path 3: Retail-First Scaling The reality: This is specifically crucial for food & beverage and lower AOV beauty. If you’re launching a beverage brand, going retail-first might be your only viable path. The same goes for low-AOV beauty products; there’s simply no unit economics in selling a £10 shampoo online. Standout examples: * BYOMA - Took the retail-first approach, now in Sephora globally. Built to £200M in a couple years while others burned cash on paid ads. * PerfectTed - Executed brilliantly across UK retail The challenge is you need relationships with buyers. It's a completely different skill set than DTC. The Non-Negotiable: 50%+ Gross Margin This applies across all three paths. Below 50% gross margin, you don't have a scalable business. Why Economics Come First I haven't talked about product development, brand building, or content strategy yet. There's a reason. If your unit economics don't work from day one, no amount of brilliant marketing will save you. I've seen too many brands with incredible products and passionate customers fail because they never solved the fundamental math. The harsh reality: If you're planning to launch a £15-20 product with 40% margins and average repeat rates, the current market conditions make it nearly impossible to scale profitably through paid acquisition. CACs have increased 40-50% just in the last two years. What used to work at £30 CAC now needs to work at £45 CAC. Your model needs to account for this reality.

SaaS Scales with Users. AI-SaaS Scales with Intelligence. For years, SaaS had a simple truth — build once, sell to many. As subscribers grow, your margins expand. It’s a beautiful, compounding model that rewards scale. Then came AI-SaaS — and the rules changed. Every intelligent action now carries a cost. Each prediction, insight, or generated response burns compute, tokens, or GPU time. Your cost per user doesn’t shrink with scale anymore — it moves with usage. At first, that felt like a step backward. But the deeper I went, the clearer it became — AI-SaaS isn’t about scaling users; it’s about scaling intelligence. ROI doesn’t come from more sign-ups, It comes from smarter design — Efficient models, optimized inference, and pricing aligned with real value creation. We’re no longer scaling software. We’re scaling learning systems. And that’s not a limitation — it’s the most exciting frontier I’ve ever built in. #AI #SaaS #StartupJourney #Leadership #FounderLife #Innovation #ProductStrategy