The Problem Isn't Getting Users. It's Knowing Why They Don't Stay.

A lot of indie hackers obsess over getting more users.

More traffic.
More signups.
More posts.
More launches.

But there's a problem:

If people sign up and disappear, getting 10x more signups doesn't fix anything.

You just get 10x more people leaving.

The question I think is more useful is:

Where exactly are users dropping out?

For a SaaS, I like to think about the journey as:

Visit → Signup → First Value → Activation → Return → Paid

Each step asks a different question.

1. Visit → Signup

If people visit but don't sign up, you probably have a positioning or trust problem.

Don't immediately build another feature.

Ask:

Do they understand what the product does?
Is the target user obvious?
Is the problem painful enough?
Is there enough proof?
2. Signup → First Value

This is where a lot of products quietly die.

Someone signs up.

Then they see:

"Welcome! Create your first project."

And leave.

The product technically works.

But the user hasn't experienced why they should care.

Try measuring:

How many new users reach the first meaningful outcome?

Not:

How many created an account?

But:

How many actually experienced the thing they came for?

3. First Value → Return

This is where you learn whether the product is actually useful.

Someone tried it once.

Great.

But did they come back?

If not, ask:

What would make this product useful enough to open again next week?

Sometimes the answer isn't another feature.

It might be:

better onboarding
reminders
saved state
integrations
faster results
a recurring workflow
4. Return → Paid

Now you have a different problem.

If users return but don't pay, the product may have value but your monetization doesn't capture it.

Maybe the free tier is too generous.

Maybe the paid feature isn't important enough.

Maybe users don't understand what they're paying for.

Again, don't immediately assume you need more features.

The mistake I'd avoid

Don't look at:

"We had 1,000 signups this month."

and conclude that you need more traffic.

Break it down.

For example:

1,000 visitors
↓
150 signups
↓
80 reached first value
↓
25 returned
↓
5 paid

Now you have something you can actually work on.

If you improve traffic by 2×, you might get:

2,000 visitors → 300 signups → 10 paid

But if you improve the broken activation step:

1,000 visitors → 150 signups → 120 reach first value → 60 return → 15 paid

You didn't need more traffic.

You needed to fix the leak.

A simple rule:

Don't ask "How do I get more users?"

Ask:

"At which step am I losing the users I already have?"

Then fix that step before pouring more traffic into the funnel.

Because growth doesn't repair a broken funnel.
It just sends more people through it.

If you've been dealing with this kind of problem, I have a practical framework that I've found useful for identifying where users drop off and what to fix first.

If there's interest, I can share it here — maybe it'll help someone else who's stuck on the same problem.