"WTF Is Value Paths?"

Value Paths is a framework for bringing rigor and results to activation work.

"Why is that important?"

Activation is what happens between acquisition and revenue. To turn CAC into profit, a signup has to continually reach the outcomes they arrive seeking. Value Paths is a way to find which early user behaviors actually predict profit, and how to help more users reach them.

"How is Value Paths different?"

Many companies have an activation metric they optimize, but it's usually hastily-chosen and halfheartedly-tested. That results in a toy steering wheel, while Value Paths offers an actual profit lever.

"So it's about testing more scientifically?"

That's a helpful start, but not all user actions relate to revenue equally. Some behavioral proxies ("create 3 projects") might show a correlation in the data, but have no causal relationship with user value in reality. The idea is to find the user behaviors that align with actual user intents, because those are the behaviors whose correlation with revenue is maintained even when scaled.

"Ohh, ok. But 'intent' sounds squishy. Is this some consultant-kumbaya shit?"

Intent just means "what did this person sign up to get done?" and it's very possible to detect patterns and compare them against conversion data, not vibes. It's the opposite of kumbaya: the framework only cares whether users got what they came for and whether you got paid (eventually).

"Is this right for my company?"

Value Paths is intended for self-serve SaaS companies with enough signup volume for behavioral patterns to be statistically meaningful. If that's you and you're looking to improve conversions and CAC payback, this is a good fit.

"Who are you?"

I'm Samuel Hulick. I've spent an obscene amount of time on one critical problem: people sign up for your product hoping it will make their lives better, and most of them drift off before they ever turn into revenue. After founding UserOnboard.com over a decade ago, I've worked on optimizing activation within high-volume self-serve SaaS companies like ClickUp and Chess.com for the last several years.

How this site is organized.