ElevenReader · B2C · app that reads text aloud
Keep tuning the onboarding quiz without testing a no-onboarding version
Biggest fail of the year; too many cycles spent on onboarding experiments
Failedonboardingexperimentation
What they did
The team ran many experiments smoothing and optimizing the onboarding flow (quiz, goal setting) following popular blog advice. In hindsight Jack would first test the base case: a signup form straight into the zero-state product, e.g. strip onboarding entirely for 10% of users for five days, to size the incremental retention, engagement and monetization the flow unlocks.
What happened
Named biggest fail of the year: too many cycles and experiments; fewer screens proved the bigger win
- Stage
- growth
- Effort
- Many experiments over the year
“We probably have spent too much time trying to smooth out and trying to optimize within onboarding.”
“just strip it out entirely for 10% for five days and see what's the opportunity size there. And so that was a big fail.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
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- ElevenLabs app: Offer one price in the mobile app and test offers around itKeeps pricing simple and the team accountable; no numbers shared
- ElevenReader: Cut onboarding down so people upload a book and pick a voice fastWorked better than quizzes and goal setting; no numbers shared
- ElevenLabs: Launch about once a month to earn press, then buy the brand searches it createsBelieved to lower CPA/CPI and compound across launches; never measured
- ElevenLabs: Write the launch Twitter thread first, then turn it into a video
- ElevenLabs app: Test new ads without needing week-one payback, reviewing each channel weekly
- ElevenLabs: Hire a creator on staff to film short videos for launches
- ElevenLabs app: Share UGC creators, tools and tracking setup across sibling apps
- ElevenLabs: Build separate apps for separate uses, each with its own brandWorked twice so far, per the speaker
- ElevenLabs app: Test paywall ideas in two sibling apps at once and swap notes
- ElevenLabs: Run the company as 10-12 small teams that each own design, build and growthSpeakers credit it for shipping speed; no numbers
- ElevenLabs: Hire engineers who build side projects, judged by their public GitHub
- ElevenLabs: Tell users how many hours their voice agents have run, so they share it
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- RevenueCat: Launch a mobile app with a home screen people want to screenshotAbout 100x more sightings on X overnight; mobile usage near dashboard usage
- Canva: Spin out a separate app for one use case of the main productWon Apple awards but failed on acquisition and retention; folded back in
- Canva: Plan a launch 12 months out, with 3 months on messaging
- Lower the price to keep customers who are churningFailed; maybe one extra month retained if they don't care about the product