Low retention and the need for genuine feedback
Hey everyone,
We’ve been promoting our startup, CoinIQ, a crypto analytics platform for serious investors, across Product Hunt, Reddit, and a few AI and founder directories. The pattern keeps repeating, we get a steady flow of signups, some positive comments but no genuine criticism.
That’s where things get tricky. People seem curious enough to try the product, then drop off after a short while. The encouraging words are nice, but they don’t reveal what’s missing or why users aren’t sticking around. We have some ideas on where to improve but, before we invest more time into new features or a redesign, we want to understand what isn’t working for those who leave.
Our Product Hunt we did relatively weel (#14 out of +230 products) which brought some visibility but not much insight. Directory listings and shoutouts have helped with reach, but they don’t explain the low retention or point to what needs fixing.
We’ve thought about exit surveys, short interviews with small rewards, and forming a small beta group we can speak with regularly. Maybe even quick in-app questions or an NPS prompt with an open field. But it’s hard to know which approach actually gets genuine answers.
I’d love to hear from other founders who’ve faced this stage, how do you get users to provide useful, specific feedback rather than polite compliments?
The funny thing is… the absence of criticism is the signal. When users like something, they hunt for words. When they don’t care, they go quiet and slip away. That’s not a feedback problem — it’s an “emotional attachment” problem.
The real constraint here might be that you’re asking people who barely formed a habit to articulate why they didn’t. Most can’t. They just drift.
I’ve seen that people only give specific feedback once the product has given them one moment of undeniable value. Without that, every survey just feels like homework.
Sometimes the better question is: “What was the moment they were hoping to find but didn’t?”
Curious what you think that moment should’ve been for your ICP.
This is a common challenge! Getting genuine, actionable feedback is crucial for improving your product and increasing retention. Polite compliments are nice, but they don't help you identify what's not working.