lele xu

Service pricing: what I learnt scaling from 0 - $1M in 1 yr

Michael Slawson

Founder & CEO, Apero Advisors | Exited to PE | ex-Deloitte, Clipboard Health

Lele Xu

Co-founder @ stealth | ex-Google, Clay

Turn a gut feeling into a confident quote.

How to perceive your value objectively

Base the decision on your operational costs.

Every pricing model and its trade-offs

Apply SaaS frameworks to optimize margins.

Why flexible pricing helps with churn and scope creep

Build and execute proven AI-powered playbooks to accelerate the growth of your subscription business.

Growth Advisor | ex-Faire/Quizlet/Ibotta

Perplexity

Gamma

ElevenLabs

Chess.com

Imprint

Phil Carter

CEO of Elemental Growth and former product leader at Faire, Quizlet, and Ibotta.

Summer 2026

Fall 2026

Consumer subscription apps are easy to launch but hard to scale. This explains why there are hundreds of thousands of them in the Apple and Google app stores, but fewer than 50 that have ever reached $1B+ valuations.These businesses face several challenges:1. Overreliance on paid ads2. High subscriber churn rates3. ARPU is low and hard to grow The best subscription apps overcome these headwinds by:1. Building their businesses on a unique and enduring core value promise2. Harnessing it to drive a Subscription Value Loop that improves LTV/CAC and Payback Period through three steps:- Value Creation: Quickly connecting new users to the app’s core value promise- Value Delivery: Cost-efficiently distributing the app to users through paid and organic channels- Value Capture: Converting free users into subscribers to generate revenue that can be reinvested into the business In this course, which Lenny Rachitsky called the "new bible" for anyone building a consumer subscription app, you will learn how to harness the power of the Subscription Value Loop along with dozens of proven frameworks, strategies, and tactics from category-leading subscription apps to accelerate your own business.

Supercharge the growth of your consumer subscription business

Learn and apply the Subscription Value Loop framework

Assess your app vs. industry benchmarks to identify major growth opportunities

Improve your premium product experience to generate more value for subscribers

Leverage proven paid and organic acquisition strategies to accelerate growth

Optimize paywalls, pricing, packaging, payments, and promotions to boost revenue

Apply lessons in live cases with leaders from Tinder, Gamma, Calm and Perplexity

Founders and execs: Consumer subscription CEOs and product and marketing leaders who want to maximize growth for their businesses.

People managers: VPs and directors managing cross-functional teams responsible for subscriber acquisition, retention, and monetization.

Senior individual contributors (ICs): PMs, marketers, and other ICs working on growth teams at consumer subscription companies.

Learn how to confidently launch and grow a fulfilling independent consulting, advisory, or fractional practice.

Fractional VP, Startup Advisor, Founder

Rent the Runway

Modern Animal

Emerson Collective

Emily Hollender

Fractional Marketing VP | Startup Advisor | Founder of Next Wave Marketing

Self Guided 2

Cohort 6

Have you been thinking about going out on your own but have no idea where to start? I’ve been exactly where you are.You’re a seasoned operator. You’ve built teams, led complex projects, and climbed the corporate ladder. But turning that experience into a business of your own? That's uncharted territory.If you’re like most new fractionals, you’ve probably been spinning your wheels: tinkering with your website, sending cold emails with no replies, second-guessing your pricing, or wondering if you’re doing it right. The questions feel endless:→ How do I turn my expertise into an offer people actually want?→ How do I find and land my first clients?→ How (and what) do I charge?→ How do I set up the back-office of my business?I’ve been there. And after 3+ years, 30+ clients, and doubling my 9-5 salary through fractional, consulting, and advisory work, I designed this course to give you the playbooks, tools, and guidance to build a real, sustainable practice.Whether you’re ready to go all-in on fractional work, easing your way into it, or just looking to diversify your income outside of your 9-5, I'm here to help you kickstart your journey with confidence.I hope you'll learn with me!

It’s time to get off the sidelines and launch your fractional practice.

Articulate your positioning and offer suite that reflects your strengths

Tactical networking & sales strategies to build your pipeline

Proven techniques to scope, price & set up client engagements for success

Templates, tools, systems, and a clear action plan to go from 0 to 1

Full-Time Operators Looking For Greater Freedom + ImpactLearn how to monetize your expertise and diversify your income outside of your 9-5.

Senior Leaders (8+ Years of Experience) in TransitionAssess whether or not fractional work is the right path for your career journey.

New (&lt;6 mo) to Fractional WorkStandup your practice with confidence, clarity, and proven playbooks and accelerate the learning curve.

Everything I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Fractional Operator

Helping operators go fractional

Walmart

Saks Fifth Avenue

Ralph Lauren

Gilt

Bellamy Grindl

Fashion Executive | Ex-Walmart, Gap, Gilt | Advisor to 8–9 figure brands

Founding workshop for operators exploring the fractional path.

Founding Cohort

Cohort 2

If you've ever wondered whether you could make the transition from employee to consultant, you're not alone.I've spent the last few years talking with operators, planners, marketers, finance leaders, and executives who are curious about going fractional but aren't sure where to start.For some, it's about creating more flexibility and control over their career. And for many, it's because they enjoy solving problems more than managing teams and corporate politics.The challenge usually isn't expertise. Most people considering this path already have valuable experience.The challenge is confidence.How do you know if you're ready? Where do clients come from? How do relationships become opportunities? What does a sustainable pipeline actually look like?In this workshop, I'll share the lessons, mistakes, and realities I've experienced building Retailytics after a 15+ year career in retail and e-commerce leadership.My goal isn't to convince you to go fractional. It's to help you determine whether it's the right path for you and leave with greater clarity and a roadmap for what comes next.

Gain clarity, confidence, and a practical roadmap for evaluating and building a fractional career.

Determine whether the fractional path is right for your goals and lifestyle

Understand how successful fractional consultants create opportunities

Define your expertise and position yourself effectively

Build confidence pricing your services and communicating your value

Create a practical plan for building a pipeline

Shortcut the learning curve through lessons learned

Experienced operators who want more flexibility, autonomy, and control over their career.

Leaders exploring fractional work after layoffs, restructuring, or career transitions.

Professionals with deep expertise who want to turn experience into consulting income.

The business fluency course for product & design leaders.

Learn how to speak the business language

eBay

X15Ventures

Amdocs

Roam Digital

Corinna Stukan

Product exec turned Fintech CEO. Amazon #1 Author & Speaker.

Maven Cohort 1

Most product and design leaders I've worked with are smart, capable, and genuinely care about building great products. But when the conversation turns to revenue drivers, cost structures, or what's actually moving the needle for the business - they go quiet.What I've learned after 17 years leading product, and now running my own FinTech company: this is not about having a business degree. It's a confidence and language gap.<blockquote>Commercial acumen isn't about reading every line of a P&amp;L. It's about understanding the core mechanics of how your business makes money - the key revenue drivers, who your most valuable customers are, and where the biggest costs sit. Get that right, and your product decisions sharpen, your roadmap ideas get heard, and your influence as a leader grows.In this half-day workshop, we bridge this confidence gap. I've run this session with teams at Westpac, Visa, WooliesX and NZ Post - and the shift is immediate.People who walked in saying "I'm not a numbers person" leave with a clear framework for understanding business metrics, a one-pager that connects their work to business strategy, and the confidence to walk into any commercial conversation and hold their own.</blockquote>

Leave with a clear one pager linking your product work to business metrics, and the confidence to walk into any commercial conversation. 

Learn how to read business performance updates 

Understand how your business actually makes money

Connect your product metrics to business strategy

Build your Metrics One Pager in the workshop

Speak confidently in any commercial conversation

Shift from product manager mindset to business owner mindset

<blockquote>Product Managers &amp; Designers who get told "you need more business acumen" but have never been shown what that actually means in practice.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Product &amp; Design leaders who build great products but freeze when asked to "explain the business impact". </blockquote>

<blockquote>Product leaders who often present roadmap recommendations to stakeholders but lack confidence in commercial conversations.</blockquote>

Agentic AI

Coding with AI

AI Workflows

Claude Code

OpenClaw

Vibe Coding

AI Evals

AI Transformation

RAG & Search

AI for PMs

AI for Engineers

AI for Designers

AI for Marketers

AI for Founders

Product Sense

Product Discovery

User Research

Prototyping

Growth

Analytics

Tech Foundations

Strategy

Influence

Leadership

Career Growth

Machine Learning

LLM Ops

Context Eng

Security

System Design

Figma

Design Systems

Visual Design

Design Strategy

Automation

Content Marketing

Demand Gen

Product Marketing

Positioning

Social Media

Brand

B2B Marketing

SEO & AEO

AI for Leaders

AI Governance

Communication

Management

People Operations

Exec Presence

Storytelling

Goal-setting

Personal Brand

AI for GTM

Sales

Customer Success

GTM Engineering

Everyone

Founders

Operators

Data Scientists

Business Analysts

User Researchers

Project Managers

HR Professionals

Sales People

Lawyers

Finance

Investors

Real Estate

Educators

Creators

Startup founders building new businesses, from MVP to scale.

Setting strategic direction, making high-stakes decisions, and translating vision into execution.

Service pricing: what I learnt scaling from 0 - $1M in 1 yr

What you'll learn

Why this topic matters

You'll learn from

Michael Slawson

Lele Xu