The Retention Series: 52 free weekly lectures on user retention for indie hackers, solo developers and small product teams. Every lesson is applied in public to two real products, Mental Math Pro and BetterLink, with real numbers. Video versions on YouTube, written versions at richardreis.substack.com.
richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
How To Do A/B Testing (Without Fooling Yourself) | Lecture 13
Learn how to plan an A/B test, choose a primary metric and guardrail, and check the split, p-value, and confidence interval before calling a winner. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-do-ab-testing (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-do-ab-testing)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
28 Oct 2026
How To Set Up Product Analytics (Start with 3 Events) | Lecture 12
Learn how to define Visit, Signup, and Value in a tracking plan, count real signups on the server, and calculate Habit from repeated Value. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-set-up-product-analytics
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
20 Oct 2026
How To Find Your Product’s Aha Moment (What Counts as Value?) | Lecture 11
Learn how to define one Value action, combine it with frequency and who, and avoid three common retention metric mistakes. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-find-your-products-aha-moment (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-find-your-products-aha-moment)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
13 Oct 2026
How To Measure Product Usage Frequency (Daily, Weekly, or Monthly?) | Lecture 10
Lecture 10 explains how to choose the right retention interval, stay in the habit zone, and test your frequency guess with user data. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-measure-product-usage-frequency (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-measure-product-usage-frequency)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
6 Oct 2026
How To Measure User Retention (Find Your Bottleneck) | Lecture 9
Lecture 9 shows how to track Visit, Signup, Value, and Habit, then compare completed cohorts to find your product's bottleneck. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-measure-user-retention (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-measure-user-retention)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
29 Sept 2026
How To Talk to Users (Before You Build the Wrong Thing) | Lecture 8
Lecture 8 applies The Mom Test and Jobs to Be Done to learning about customer problems instead of collecting feature requests. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-talk-to-users (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-talk-to-users)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
22 Sept 2026
How To Find Product Market Fit (Listen to the Right Users) | Lecture 7
Lecture 7 rebuilds Rahul Vohra's product-market fit engine and applies the customer-feedback method to Mental Math Pro. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-find-product-market-fit (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-find-product-market-fit)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
15 Sept 2026
How To Build Network Effects (Solve the Cold Start Problem) | Lecture 6
Lecture 6 explains network effects, separates them from virality, and applies the ideas to real products. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-build-network-effects
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
8 Sept 2026
How To Build a Competitive Advantage (That's Hard to Copy) | Lecture 5
Lecture 5 explains Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers and which advantages are available at each stage of a product. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-build-a-competitive-advantage (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-build-a-competitive-advantage)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
1 Sept 2026
How To Get Your First Users (Do Things That Don't Scale) | Lecture 4
Lecture 4 applies Paul Graham's Do Things That Don't Scale to finding first users, personal onboarding, and customer service. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-get-your-first-users (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-get-your-first-users)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
25 Aug 2026
How To Find Startup Ideas Worth Building (Proven Better New) | Lecture 3
Lecture 3 applies Mark Pincus's Proven, Better, New framework to choosing startup ideas and testing your own product. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-find-startup-ideas-worth-building (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-find-startup-ideas-worth-building)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
18 Aug 2026
How To Make Product Growth Last (Retention Before Acquisition) | Lecture 2
Lecture 2 shows how higher retention can beat faster growth, with the Homejoy cautionary tale and a revenue comparison. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-make-product-growth-last (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-make-product-growth-last)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
11 Aug 2026
How To Tell If Users Value Your Product (The Retention Test) | Lecture 1
Lecture 1 explains why user retention comes before growth and introduces two real products for the series. Video and written version: https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-tell-if-users-value-your-product (https://richardreis.substack.com/p/how-to-tell-if-users-value-your-product)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit richardreis.substack.com (https://richardreis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
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