Activation is the most overlooked growth lever in SaaS, especially for PLG-focused companies. While founders obsess over acquisition, pricing, and retention, they often overlook low-hanging fruit with activation.
In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim break down what activation actually is, why most teams misunderstand it, and how to improve it using a clear, repeatable process. Asia shares why pop-ups and walkthroughs are not a strategy, why survivor bias is distorting your view of product performance, and how as few as three to five UX interviews can unlock growth.
If you have a free trial, self-serve motion, or product-led growth model, this episode walks through a practical framework to improve activation.
Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here.
Links:
Chapters
- (00:01:00) - Why activation is often an overlooked growth lever in PLG SaaS.
- (00:04:05) - What activation actually means and how it connects acquisition and retention.
- (00:11:00) - Why pop-ups, overlays, and onboarding walkthroughs aren't working as well anymore.
- (00:14:00) - What good trial-to-paid benchmarks look like and why most bootstrappers leave money on the table.
- (00:19:45) - The process of improving activation, starting with step one, UX interviews with qualified strangers.
- (00:28:05) - What to pay attention to when doing UX interviews.
- (00:30:55) - The three levers to improve UX: cognitive overload, uncertainty, and limited attention.
- (00:36:50) - What steps to take after making initial improvements.
- (00:42:00) - How to think about later-stage activation.
- (00:52:45) - Activation starting from your homepage.
