Facebook VP of Growth Alex Schultz: “Retention is the single-most important thing for growth”

Retention is the Single Most Important Thing for growth so many times like I've advised multiple startups. My favorite was working with Airbnb. I've worked with Coursera, I've worked with other ones that haven't done as well as those guys. But the one thing that is true over and over and over again is if you look at this curve percent monthly active versus number of days from acquisition. If you end up with a retention curve that asymptotes to a line parallel to the x axis, you have a viable business and you have product market fit for some subset of market. If it doesn't flatten out, don't go and do growth tactics. Don't go and do virality. Don't hire a growth hacker. Focus on getting product market fit. If you don't have a great product, there's no point executing well on growing it because it won't grow. Number one problem I've seen inside Facebook for new products Number one problem I've seen for startups I've advised has been they don't actually have product market fit when they think they do.