Every SaaS founder I know is obsessed with the same thing: more demos, more logos, more MRR. And every time, I see the same movie play out:

• CAC goes up
• Retention stays flat (or worse, goes down)
• Growth curve looks amazing… until month 18 when it flatlines like a pancake

I call it the Leaky Bucket Problem  → You’re pouring water in (new customers), but the bottom is wide open.

Why the “demo → trial → close” playbook fails in SaaS

That old-school funnel was built for one-time transactions, not recurring revenue. What happens when you treat sign-up as the finish line?

• All resources go to prospects, not customers
• Sales wins trophies, CS just fights fires
• Product loses feedback from real users
• Short-term wins, long-term pain

You don’t need another clever demand-gen hack. You need to fix the leaks.

The retention-first playbook (this actually compounds)

Think of growth as a loop, not a line.

• First 90 days = everything → shorten time-to-value (TTV). Get them an early win fast.
• Make it a habit → daily use, integrations, workflows. Switching costs rise.
• Expand naturally → features, seats, modules. Feels like growth, not an upsell.
• Turn them into advocates → referrals, case studies, reviews = cheapest CAC channel.

Proof this works