Why your customers are churning (hint: it's not missing features)

I spent 10+ years in Customer Success managing thousands of SaaS accounts across multiple companies. Drove 110-130% NRR over that time. Managed over 400 accounts at once.

And with all of that experience here's what I can tell you.

The "just one more feature" trap is real. And it's usually a distraction.

Here's what I think happens:
Conversions feel stuck. Customers aren't activating. Growth feels stalled.
So you think: "If I just build this one more feature, that's what will unlock growth."

And sometimes a customer even asks for it. So you convince yourself it's validated. You dive into building it because—let's be honest—building features feels like progress. It's concrete. It's what you're good at.

But here's what's actually happening:
You're building for your most engaged customer. Not the ones who are quietly ghosting.

That one customer who asked for the feature? They're probably already activated. They're already getting value. They're the exception.
The customers churning silently? They didn't even get to the point where they'd know what features to ask for. They signed up, got confused about what to do next, and left.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

Fixing onboarding doesn't feel like building. It feels like cleanup. It feels like you're going backwards instead of forwards.

But retention doesn't come from having more features. It comes from customers understanding how to get value from what you already built.

Founders spend 3 months building a feature that a small group of customers requested. They launch it. Your small cohort loves it.

But churn doesn't change. Because the other 80% of signups never made it far enough to care about features.

They couldn't figure out the basics. They didn't hit their first win. They mentally checked out in Week 1.

For indie hackers bootstrapping:
You've got limited time. You're wearing all the hats. I get it.

But before you spend another month building "just one more feature," ask yourself:
→ Can your current customers already get value from what you have?
→ Are they churning because features are missing...or because they never figured out how to use what exists?
→ Is this feature request from someone who's already successful with your product...or from someone who's stuck?

If customers are telling you they want features, that's great. Build them eventually.

But if most of your signups are ghosting before they even activate? That's not a feature problem. That's an onboarding problem.

The shift:
Stop asking "What should I build next?"
Start asking "Why aren't customers getting to their first win?"
Because the founders who hit growth aren't the ones with the longest feature lists. They're the ones who made sure customers could actually use what they shipped.

Curious what others are seeing:
For those of you building—are you spending more time on new features or on helping customers understand what you already have?

And if you've been stuck in the feature trap, what made you realize onboarding was the real issue?