The Four Horsemen of Churn: Why Even Loved Products Lose Users

Building a consumer app that users genuinely love should be the golden ticket to sustainable growth, right? Unfortunately, the reality is far more complex. Even when your product delivers real value and users actively enjoy the experience, they can still churn at alarming rates.

Tim Johnson learned this lesson the hard way. As the founder of Couply, a relationship app that helped couples strengthen their bonds, and former head of brand partnerships at Wattpad (acquired for $600M), Tim has seen both sides of the retention equation. In a recent episode of the Levels Podcast, Tim shared the brutal realities of consumer app churn and introduced what he calls the "four horsemen of churn"—a framework that every B2C startup should understand.

When Love Isn't Enough: The Couply Story

Couply seemed destined for success. The app grew to over 500,000 downloads, became the number one couples app on Google Play Store, and genuinely helped relationships. Users consistently reported positive outcomes, and the product delivered on its core promise of helping couples navigate relationship challenges.

But there was a fundamental problem lurking beneath the surface.

"Couply is an app that helps couples get out of a, when they're in a bit of a pickle. So every relationship goes through ups and downs, right? And when your relationship is going through a down phase, you need help, you need help fast."

Tim recognized that Couply had become what he describes as an "emergency product"—something couples turned to when they desperately needed help, used to solve their immediate problem, and then abandoned once the crisis passed.

"People wanted to use Couply to solve their problems, and then they churn. So they both like it. They both like it, and it works. They churn."

This insight led Tim to identify what he calls the "four horsemen of churn"—four distinct scenarios that plague products requiring multiple users, particularly in the relationship space.

The Four Horsemen of Churn

After growing Coupley to the top of Google Play store rankings, Tim realised they had a big churn issue based on 4 core scenarios where users will inevitably stop using the app.

1. Both Users Love It, Problem Solved → Churn

This might seem counterintuitive, but it's perhaps the most challenging scenario. When both partners love your app and it successfully solves their relationship issues, they naturally move on. They've achieved their goal—why continue using the app?

2. Neither User Likes It → Churn

This is the most straightforward scenario. If the product doesn't resonate with either user, they'll abandon it quickly. While painful, this type of churn provides clear feedback about product-market fit issues.

3. One Likes It, One Doesn't → Churn

In any multi-user product, especially one targeting couples, you need buy-in from all parties. When only one person sees value, the product becomes a source of friction rather than harmony.

4. The Other One Likes It, The Other One Doesn't → Churn

The mirror image of scenario three, but equally destructive. Tim emphasizes that for couples apps specifically: "it's a couples app, so it needs both of you doing stuff."

The Psychology Behind Emergency Products

Tim's experience with Couply reveals a critical insight about user psychology and product positioning. Many successful products inadvertently position themselves as "emergency solutions" rather than ongoing lifestyle tools.

"The best couples therapists have a three month waiting list. That's no good. People typically aren't calling a couples therapist like they would... They're calling it like 999 or 911, right? They're like, hey, I have fucking emergency my relationship is my relationship is about to end like how can you help."

This emergency positioning created a fundamental tension. Couply became incredibly effective at solving acute relationship problems, but this very effectiveness worked against long-term retention. Once couples resolved their immediate issues, they had no compelling reason to continue engaging with the app.

Lessons for B2C Founders

Tim's experience offers several crucial insights for consumer app founders:

Understand Your Use Case Psychology

Ask yourself: Are you building an emergency tool or a lifestyle product? Emergency tools solve immediate problems but struggle with retention. Lifestyle products integrate into daily routines but may have lower initial urgency.

Design for Ongoing Value

Even if your core value proposition solves a specific problem, consider how you can provide ongoing value beyond the initial use case. This might mean expanding your feature set, creating community elements, or finding ways to prevent problems rather than just solving them.

Multi-User Product Challenges

If your product requires multiple users (like couples, families, or teams), the churn mathematics become exponentially more complex. You need to satisfy all users simultaneously and continuously.

Know When to Pivot

Tim ultimately made the difficult decision to transition Couply from a venture-backed startup to a profitable side project.

"I felt like it would be better served as a more of like a side project. So the company became a side project for us and that left me open to get back into the game."

Sometimes recognizing the limitations of your current model is the first step toward finding a sustainable path forward.

The Outcome: Profitable Pivot

Despite the churn challenges, Tim's story isn't one of failure. Couply successfully transitioned to a sustainable side business model:

"Couplely is profitable, it's making money, it's helping couples, and we are very close to paying all our investors back. And then it will make me and my co-founder an incredible passive income for as long as we keep it going."

This outcome demonstrates that understanding and accepting your product's natural limitations can lead to sustainable, if different, success.

Key Takeaways

• Love doesn't guarantee retention: Users can genuinely love your product and still churn once their immediate need is met
• Emergency positioning is dangerous: Products that solve acute problems struggle with long-term engagement
• Multi-user dynamics are complex: Each additional required user exponentially increases churn scenarios
• Pivoting can mean winning: Sometimes the best strategy is transitioning from high-growth startup to sustainable business
• User psychology matters more than features: Understanding why and when people use your product is more important than what features you offer
• Success has many definitions: Profitable sustainability can be more valuable than venture-scale growth

Tim's framework of the "four horsemen of churn" provides a sobering but essential reality check for any founder building consumer products. By understanding these dynamics early, you can design products and business models that account for the harsh realities of user behavior—even when users love what you've built.

Want to hear more insights from experienced founders like Tim Johnson? Listen to the full conversation on the Levels Podcast where we dive deep into building and scaling consumer apps.